Postdoctoral Clinical Training Program

The program is three years in duration, with three new residents entering the program each year.

During the program, residents work with faculty and fellow residents to gain the knowledge and skills needed to become successful laboratory animal veterinarians.

Primary areas of training include clinical medicine and pathology, management and administration of laboratory animal programs and facilities, regulatory compliance, and conduct of research. Both didactic instruction and experiential training are utilized to facilitate the diverse range of information and skills required to complete the program.

Below is a summary of the learning objectives and outcomes for each year, as well as a general timeline outlining program components.

Year 1:

During their first year of residency, residents devote the majority of their time and effort to addressing clinical issues, including the diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous or experimentally-induced illnesses within our animal colonies.

Throughout the year, residents also:

• Play an active role in designing and implementing preventative health programs for both rodent and non-rodent species, and investigate the pathologic basis of disease;
• Are strongly encouraged to produce a first-author case report or clinical investigation suitable for publication either as a poster or a scientific article;
• Participate in a University ethics course during the fall semester;
• Attend and give lectures in the ULAM Seminar Series as part of the didactic portion of their training; and
• Are encouraged to identify potential topics for the mentored research project that they will pursue in their second and third years.

Year 2:

As part of their second year of residency, residents:

• Are responsible for limited clinical duties (approximately 10% effort);
• Actively study specific areas of emphasis, referred to as “ULAM Concentrations” (approximately 50 – 60% effort); and
• Participate in didactic training, one or two optional external rotations, and initiate their primary research project (approximately 30% effort).

Year 3:

During the third year of the program, residents devote the majority of their effort and time (~90%) toward the completion of a significant research project.

Projects are designed to facilitate a resident’s submission of a first-author manuscript for publication that would be suitable for acceptance by ACLAM in partial fulfillment of specialty certification.

Throughout all three years, residents participate in the ULAM Seminar Series, Grand Rounds, Study Group, Journal Club, Research Seminar, and Pathology Rounds.