Many health professions trainees—especially in dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy programs—learn to do surgeries and procedures on grape skins, leather, chicken breasts, and the live bodies of nonhuman animals. This theme issue investigates whether, when, and to what extent training using nonhuman animals, in particular, is justifiable. There are many reasons why faculty who design curricula in some training programs prefer trainees to practice their skill sets on nonhuman animals. This theme issue invites readers to ask which criteria should be used to assess how compelling and persuasive such reasons and preferences are in the face of nonhuman animals being routinely bred, anesthetized, and euthanized to meet the demands of human-centered training and practice. Asking good ethical, legal, cultural, and empirical questions about roles of community-based opposition, individual trainee conscience, veterinary advocacy, and surgical expertise in developing validated learning activities are key to collaborative progress in formulating training models that will shape future health professional acquisition of surgical and procedural skill sets.
Manuscripts submitted for peer review consideration and inclusion in this issue must follow Instructions for Authors and be submitted by 28 February 2025.
The AMA Journal of Ethics® invites original, English-language contributions for peer review consideration on the upcoming themes.