Externs will participate in daily clinical duties alongside laboratory animal residents and faculty veterinarians, including handling, physical exams, and common diagnostic and therapeutic techniques in a variety of laboratory animal species. The extern will also participate in the following activities: DIAGNOSTIC PATHOLOGY: Externs will gain hands-on experience in necropsy and will be exposed to in-house diagnostic methodologies including serology and PCR. PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE AND RODENT COLONY MANAGEMENT: Externs will spend time within the unit managing health surveillance of the rodent colonies (sentinel program, quarantine, outbreak management, etc.) andproviding breeding colony management services for investigators.
INSTITUTIONAL ANIMAL CARE AND USE COMMITTEE: As scheduling permits, externs will attend monthly IACUC meetings and resident training sessions that cover federal regulations and guidelines in the use of laboratory animals and provide training in protocol review. Opportunities may also be available to attend protocol start-up meetings and observe post-approval monitoring activities. DIDACTIC TRAINING SESSIONS: - Resident seminars covering information essential for the practice of laboratory animal medicine are held twice weekly during the academic year and are presented by Comparative Medicine faculty and residents.
- Weekly slide sessions are given by ACLAM diplomates for the purposes of ACLAM board examination preparation. The slide sessions, presented in a question-answer format, utilize material from mock exams and various slide sets.
JOURNAL CLUB: The extern will attend the bi-weekly journal club covering relevant laboratory animal journals and may be expected to review and present an assigned article. Guidance on article review will be provided by the faculty and/or resident veterinarians.
CLINICOPATHOLOGIC CONFERENCE (CPC): CPC is a weekly conference, attended by Comparative Medicine faculty and staff, to discuss recent and ongoing clinical cases. Clinical cases are presented by the residents in a ‘grand rounds’ format and necropsy cases are presented by the pathologists. Externs spending three or more weeks with us may present a clinical case or topic of their choice. Additional training or experience in specific areas of interest can be arranged. |