Didactic training is provided over 36 months through graduate courses, seminars, and weekly rounds.
The five required core courses for this program are:
- Laboratory Animal Biology
- Laboratory Animal Pathology
- Laboratory Animal Resource Management
- Grant and Manuscript Writing for Biomedical Researchers
- Ethical Conduct of Research
These first four courses are offered in a rotating cycle every 2 years, while Ethical Conduct of Research is offered annually. With this schedule, trainees complete all five courses during the first 2 years of their program. Senior trainees who have completed the ethics course are asked to facilitate sessions in subsequent years. Trainees may also take one to two elective courses that are usually related to their area of research. In addition, trainees participate in a weekly seminar series and weekly clinical, regulatory, management and pathology rounds throughout the year. The fall seminar series is devoted to workshops and interactive sessions designed to develop transferable skills (e.g. emotional intelligence, communication, conflict resolution) and the spring seminar series is devoted to trainee and rotating student research seminars.
The minimum number of semester credit hours required of trainees is 72 for a PhD degree and 30 for a MS degree. Typically, course credit hours are high early in training and decline in subsequent years to promote emphasis on hands-on research activities.
To link to course descriptions, click here.