ETHICS AND ANIMAL ISSUES IN UNITED-STATES MEDICAL-EDUCATION

Increasing public and regulatory agency concern about a variety of ani mal protection issues that affect the field of medicine have made thes e issues increasingly relevant to medical school curricula. The purpos e of this study was to assess the availability and forms of medical sc hool training relating to ethical, conceptual, and societal concerns i n the use of animals within the field of medicine and the perceived ne ed for such training. Questionnaire surveys were mailed to the Deans o f the 125 accredited US medical schools, and completed by Deans or the ir designees within the same medical institution. Questionnaire recipi ents were informed that results would be compiled in a fashion that di d not identify specific individuals or institutions. Survey responses were obtained from 84 medical institutions (67% response). Sixty respo ndents (71%) indicated that their medical school offered or sponsored some type of activity related to ethical and conceptual concerns in th e use of animals in medical research and training. Most schools (43) o ffered informal discussions/seminars relating to these issues, but nin e schools offered full formal courses with up to 15 lectures on these topics. Programme content and perceived need for additional instructio n varied greatly amongst respondents. The results suggest a wide diver sity amongst US medical schools in the availability and perceived impo rtance of medical school training relating to ethical and conceptual c oncerns in the uses of animals in medicine. It is proposed that instru ction in these areas be pursued with more concerted efforts to address the growing body of knowledge about non-human beings and the ethical implications of such knowledge.