Aasland Hansen KE. The usage of alternatives at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science. Paper presented at: The Three Rs - Together it's possible. 8th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences; 2011 Aug 21-25; Montreal, Canada


Abstract

In March 2009 the Norwegian Reference Centre for Laboratory Animal Science and Alternatives at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science opened a multimedia room / training clinic. It contains a large number of alternatives that can be used in the education of the veterinary students and the veterinary nurse students. The room has 4 laptops that are equipped with a number of programs made for teaching anatomy, pathology and physiology. There are also many CDs and DVDs with teaching material in laboratory animal science, ethics, anatomy, handling of laboratory animals, anesthesia, analgesia, surgery, necropsy and more. The room also has a number of models used for training practical clinical techniques. Today the room is being used frequently by the students in both mandatory education and also in their spare time. Some of the alternatives can completely replace animals being used in teaching. In addition, usage of the alternatives gives the student skills and confidence, so that when the student does the procedure on a live animal for the first time they do it faster and better, which leads to better animal welfare. 



Author's contacts: kristine.hansen@nvh.no