This would make for great replacements for anatomy specimens (when you’re just learning to identify structures), but would be a poor replacement for live tissue when learning surgery.
When I went to veterinary school, our surgical program was conducted with animals from the local shelter that were slated to be euthanized. They’d be anesthetized, surgical procedures would be learned, and then they’d be euthanized (while under anesthesia) while on the surgical table. Pretty brutal, but an indispensable aid to learning how to manipulate tissues/how live tissues react (especially when you have to focus on hemostasis for the first time ever). One other option was to use animals from the shelter that had already been euthanized. They’d be hauled out of the fridge earlier in the day, and allowed to warm to room temperature. Surgery on “real” tissue, without having to feel like you were personally responsible for the death of a particular animal. To a single individual, each of my classmates that did this option regretted having done it. Their animal still died, and they missed out on vital lessons that can only be gained from manipulation of real live tissue.
Until all the shelters are “no kill” and there are no animals being euthanized, or synthetic materials become indistinguishable from real tissue, then this is just an expensive “feel good” project. This is just one of those situations in which there’s just not an adequate replacement for the real thing (not yet at least, and I look forward to the day when there is!).
