University of Washington

Type of Institution	Public University
Director	Brian Iritani DVM, PhD (Director), Nick Reyes DVM, MS (co-Director, ASLAP grant)
Address	University of Washington, I-438 Health Sciences Center,1959 NE Pacific Street, Seattle WA 98195-7340
Who to Contact	Brian Iritani, Professor Department of Comparative Medicine or Geena Gallardo, Assistant to the Chair
Contact Email	Email: biritani@uw.edu; or gallardg@uw.edu
Contact Phone	(206)221-3932 (Brian) or (206)543-8047 (Geena)
Contact Fax	(206)685-3006
How long are the rotations?	2-4 weeks
When do rotations start?	At any time
Prerequisites	Strong interest in pursuing a career in Laboratory Animal Medicine
How many trainees at one time?	Up to 2
Salary	No salary is supplied unless students are selected for the ASLAP fellowship
Benefits	No benefits other than sunny Seattle
Availability of housing	Students are responsible for their own housing, although the DCM can offer names of private parties that rent rooms. We encourage out-of-state students to apply for a supplemental stipend kindly supported by an ASLAP Foundation Grant.
Overview of the program	The University of Washington (UW), Department of Comparative Medicine (DCM) offers a pre-doctoral training program in Laboratory Animal Medicine (LAM) for 3 ^rd and 4 ^th year veterinary students. The overall objective of the Clerkship Program is to provide veterinary students with significant understanding of the roles and opportunities for veterinarians in biomedical research and LAM. For the past 40 years, the UW has received more federal research funding than any other U.S. Public University. Much of this funding supports animal based research involving multiple mammalian, amphibian, and fish species. The DCM is an Academic Department within the School of Medicine and DCM faculty are actively involved in Clinical Care (including Surgery and Anesthesia), Service (Animal husbandry, Facilities design/maintenance; Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory; Transgenic Resources and CRISPR Core, Gnotobiotic Animal Core, Histology and Imaging Core; Animal Welfare), Teaching (ACLAM-certified LAM Residency, Clinical Clerkships, Masters Degree Program), and Research (Immunology, lung biology, inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer, gut microbiome, embryonic stem cell biology, nutrition, aging). Externs work closely with Faculty and Clinical Residents to gain exposure and training in all aspects of LAM and biomedical research. Program Goals Acquire knowledge and skills relating to the practice of clinical laboratory animal medicine, husbandry management, and research core services involving commonly utilized research species including mice, rats, rabbits, fish, amphibians, ferrets, swine, sheep, dogs, and non-human primates. Obtain experience in anatomic pathology and the correlation of clinical findings and clinical pathology, with gross and microscopic changes. Gain an understanding of the specific regulations governing the use of animals in biomedical research, teaching, and testing. Acquire an appreciation of the roles of veterinarians in managing and directing the care and husbandry of laboratory animals in academia and industry. Acquire an appreciation of the roles of veterinarians in training principal investigators (PIs), research technicians, and animal care staff in the proper care and the use of laboratory animals in biomedical research. These program goals are met by rotations through Veterinary Clinical Services (including surgery and anesthesia), Pathology Service (necropsy and histopathology services, slide review), Transgenic Resources, Rodent Health Monitoring, Non-humanPrimate Medicine, Gnotobiotics, Animal Welfare, Aquatic Animal Medicine, and Biotechnology/Research. Students also attend weekly clinical/research seminars, journal club, pathology training sessions, and LAM courses through the Department of Comparative Medicine. At the end of the clerkship, students present a ~30-40 minute seminar on a clinical case, research project, or other special topic in Laboratory Animal Medicine.
Other comments	Acceptance into the Clerkship program is dependent on the student’s interest in pursuing a career in laboratory animal medicine, clerkship availability during the requested period (we generally do not want more than 2 students at a time), strength of the application and CV, and letter of intent. Students are advised to apply early to ensure acceptance. Selection for ASLAP funding will be based on the above criteria, plus special consideration of the distance traveling to Seattle.