Elsevier Animal Simulator offers more effective learning resource than lecture-demonstration method: Study

The simulator addresses local education regulations requiring the replacement of animals in teaching with modern, non-animal teaching methods

Elsevier, provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced that an independent study found that students in India taking amphibian physiology using Elsevier Animal Simulator performed better than their peers in the control group taught using the conventional lecture-demonstration method. The study was based on 150 first professional MBBS students from the Bankura Sammilani Medical College, West Bengal.

Conceptualised and developed by Elsevier India in 2012, the Animal Simulator addresses local education regulations requiring the replacement of animals in teaching with modern, non-animal teaching methods covering over 25 types of experiments in pharmacology and physiology. Almost 20 per cent of medical colleges in India have adopted the Elsevier Animal Simulator, including AIIMS-Bhopal, AIIMS-Rishikesh, AIIMS Jodhpur, MS Ramaiah Medical College, Dr DY Patil Medical College and Calcutta Medical College.

The computer-assisted learning tool uses interactive media content to help medical students understand experimental skills, and how animals respond to various chemicals and stimuli.

In addition to its use across universities and colleges in India, it is also available to medical and pharmacy colleges worldwide, including among others IBN Sina National College for Medical Sciences in Saudi Arabia, Durham University in the UK, and Maryland University in the US.

“The Animal Simulator, which recreates a virtual animal laboratory for students to learn without having to maim or kill animals for dissection, is designed to facilitate medical education, empower self-learning and minimise the unnecessary use of large numbers of animals in live context for experimentation,” said Dr Ramasamy Raveendran, Professor of Pharmacology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, India and a member of the Animal Simulator development team.

“We’re encouraged that the Animal Simulator is gaining acceptance and recognition in the market as a unique digital solution that delivers real value and benefits to the medical student community,” said Terig Hughes, Elsevier’s Managing Director, Health Solutions for South and South East Asia.

EH News Bureau