Curriculum

Training encompasses two years and prepares residents for certification by the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM). Successful completion of the program is recognized by a certificate from the Yale School of Medicine.

Seminars provide more than 200 hours covering the biology, care, diseases and use of laboratory animal species, including:

• Mice and Rats
• Other Rodents
• Rabbits
• Non-human Primates
• Other Species
• Diagnostic Laboratory Procedures
• Animal Resource Administration
• Regulatory Training
• Communication

Anatomic and Clinical Pathology

Trainees serve as laboratory diagnosticians, for gross and microscopic pathology under the supervision of faculty pathologists. They carry assigned cases through laboratory diagnosis and present diagnostic findings at the weekly clinicopathologic conference.

Clinical pathology training includes experience in microbiology, parasitology, virology, serology, molecular diagnostics and clinical chemistry. Trainees learn principles of serological and molecular diagnosis and interpret diagnostic tests such as immunofluorescence assays, enzyme immunoassays and PCR.

Discussions with faculty and staff emphasize quality control and factors that can produce false-positive or false-negative results.

Trainees are introduced to the concepts and methods of producing genetically engineered mice, antibody production and other aspects of animal-related biotechnology.

Residents serve as primary clinicians for therapeutic and preventive medicine under the guidance of ACLAM-certified faculty clinicians. In doing so they apply and extend didactic training with hands-on experience of more than 2,000 hours in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease in laboratory species.

Additionally, they gain experience in research-related activities such as experimental surgery and post-operative care, and develop skills for communicating with investigators about animal care and use.

Their clinical experience is enhanced by daily case reviews, monthly clinicians’ meetings and periodic clinicopathologic conferences. These meetings also provide continuing exposure to clinical cases during research training.

In addition to regulatory seminars, residents attend monthly IACUC meetings. They also gain mentored, practical experience and instruction in review and critique of animal use protocols.

Residents meet weekly with the Training Program Director and other ACLAM-boarded faculty members for a formal board review session. During this time, residents will be asked questions based on projected images that are representative of the type of questions that appear on the ACLAM board exam.

Residents meet with select CMed faculty every other week to review and discuss articles from relevant lab animal journals.

During the first 12-18 months of training, residents are required to complete a clinical research project under the mentorship of CMed clinical faculty and subsequently submit a first-author manuscript for publication.A faculty mentor will work with each resident to formulate a hypothesis and design an appropriate study to test it utilizing the scientific method. Residents will be provided time and resources during their clinical training to collect and analyze data, leaving adequate time to prepare and submit their manuscript during the last 6-12 months of training.