Hello,

We have big news. Thanks to you and thousands of other Physicians Committee supporters, Duke University has stopped killing pigs to train medical students!

After we learned last year that Duke had begun using live pigs in a medical student surgery course, we appealed to leaders of the school. When they refused to respond, we launched a public campaign. In February, 556 physicians from across the country signed a letter opposing the practice. We placed ads on buses across Durham, N.C., reading, “Winners Don’t Kill Animals to ‘Teach’ Med Students.” And 20,284 of you sent emails to Duke leaders.

Just days ago, Duke confirmed that it has replaced animals! This puts an end to a cruel and long-abandoned practice: Since 2016, no U.S. medical school had used animals to teach medical students—an accomplishment made possible by decades of hard work by the Physicians Committee and our supporters. (Animals are still used in higher-level programs like surgery residencies—and we are making progress there too.)

Duke’s surgery course had even used human cadavers for years before replacing them with pigs in 2022. The animals were subjected to dozens of invasive procedures, in which their chest cavities were cut open and their organs were removed.

Now, thanks to you, that practice has ended! Duke has rejoined the 215 other medical schools in the United States and Canada that exclusively use human-relevant training methods.

Please help us use this victory to pressure another last-of-its-kind program to follow suit and end its deadly training labs. Sanford Health and North Dakota State University run the last Advanced Trauma Life Support course in the country known to use live animals. Please tell them to halt the practice!

Thank you for all you do to support our efforts.