The "double clock" or how to learn microsurgery without animal

Animal experimentation is the most common way to learn microsurgery. However, this practice should be performed according to ethical rules and financial cost. This study has a triple aim: improving students' skills in microsurgery, respecting ethics and reducing costs by using fewer animals. We propose an ethical, practical and inexpensive training method that uses sewing needles. This training consists in microsurgery wire's passages in the eye of sewing needles arranged into circle. Specifically, 24 needles were arranged into two circles on a polystyrene block representing a "double clock". A specific scorecard for this exercise was made to evaluate the students. In total, between November 2010 and June 2011, fifteen residents followed the university degree in microsurgery provided by the faculty of medicine Henri Warembourg (Lille, France). The "double clock" was added to the eight already existing microsurgical manipulations. All of the participants were tested and this exercise was found to be effective as a teaching procedure. Also, each student used an average of 20 rats per year. This year we have reduced our animal control by 10% or about 30 rats. Our goals were achieved as we have improved student's microsurgical skills and also limiting cost by using fewer animals.