Even doctors don't have to dissect
Times Colonist
Monday, January 17, 2005

Re: "Woman pushes to let students drop dissections," Jan. 12.

This letter reminded me of my experience as a sophomore in college, when dissections were part of a required biology course. I was quite opposed to dissections, but lab attendance was half of the grade. Fortunately, the teaching assistant was supportive and we agreed that if I could pass the exams without doing the dissections, she would count me as having attended the lab. I passed the course without difficulty, without doing the dissections.

As Lesley Fox points out, there are alternatives to dissection. Many top medical schools now deem live-animal laboratories unnecessary for medical training and use such alternatives.

There are resources available for readers wishing more information on this topic. The Web site for Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (www.pcrm.org) and Peter Singer's book Animal Liberation are two excellent references.

Jennie Preuss, MD,

Victoria.