Postdoctoral Clinical Training Program

in Laboratory Animal Medicine

The training program is 3 years in duration with 2 new residents entering the program each year.  Residents work in collaboration with faculty and fellow residents to gain the knowledge and skills needed to become successful laboratory animal veterinarians. 

Primary areas of training emphasis are 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 learning the diverse range of information and skills required.  Major emphasis of resident training each year of the program is graphically represented below.

Year 1:  

Residents devote the majority of their time and effort addressing clinical issues including the diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous or experimentally-induced illnesses within our animal colonies.  During this year, residents also play an active role in designing and implementing preventative health programs for both rodent and non-rodent species and investigating the pathologic basis of disease.  Residents are strongly encouraged to produce a first-author case report or clinical investigation suitable for publication either as a poster or a scientific article.  Residents also participate in a University Ethics course during the Fall semester.  Throughout their first year, residents are encouraged to identify potential topics for the mentored research project that they will pursue in their second and third years.

Year 2:

Second year residents provide limited clinical duties (approximately 10% effort).  However, the majority of their time and effort (approximately 50-60%) is devoted toward the active study of ten specific areas of emphasis, referred to as “ULAM Concentrations”.  Their remaining effort is devoted to participation in didactic training, one-to-two optional external rotations, and initiation of their primary research project.

During the Fall semester, residents complete a Molecular Biology course offered through the University graduate school. Residents can waive this requirement if they have recently completed a similar course or can demonstrate equivalent experience.

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 will participate in the ULAM Seminar Series, pathology rounds, study group, and journal club.