Plzen, West Bohemia, July 12 (CTK) – The Medical Faculty in Plzen hosts a two-week international summer school of experimental surgery, in which 30 students from nine countries participate and which is a unique event at home and in Europe, its founder, organiser and head Vaclav Liska has told CTK.
Liska, from the Surgical Clinic of the Plzen teaching hospital, said the students use pigs to train operations on various bodily organs.
“Pigs are optimal for us, with their anatomy and physiology close to human,” Liska said.
Apart from two Czech students, there are 28 participants from Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Turkey.
They have already tried the removal of a gall bladder, a kidney and a spleen, and to stich intestines and blood vessels.
One student always performs a surgery, being assisted by another two and supervised by a teacher.
The surgeries take place in the Menagerie owned by the faculty, which offers operation theatres with human medicine equipment.
The course, partly subsidised by the Charles University, costs 1,100 euros, which is quite a high price because the work on animals is very costly, Liska said.
He said the demand for the course exceeds the offer. The faculty annually has to turn down a number of applications. To preserve the individual approach to the participants, it does not want their number to cross 28.
The faculty’s spokeswoman, Barbora Cernikova, said a strong emphasis has been put on the ethical aspect of the experimental surgeries, in which live animals are replaced with alternative methods where possible and the highest comfort for the animal “patients” is secured.
