Research and Development Service - VA Portland HCS
Research & Development - Veterinary Medical Unit (VMU)
- Training & Orientation
- VMU Forms
- Staff & Services
- Policies
Training and Orientation
Training to refine your technique and results:
The VA Portland Health Care System (VAPORHCS) VMU has many training options available to assist you. Please contact Tammi Howard (Tammi.Howard@va.gov) to arrange training. All courses are free of charge.
VMU Orientation and Required Training
This basic animal use and facility orientation is required for all persons wishing to gain or renew independent access to the Veterinary Medical Unit and/or work in any of the animal rooms. There are multiple steps to the process:
- Flowchart on how to obtain access to the VMU facility. (570KB, PDF)
- Online Training (25KB, MSWord). Click here to obtain instructions on how to complete the online training mandated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. You must retake the course every three years (within 1,095 days of your last test date).
- Facility orientation and walkthrough. Please contact Tammi Howard (Tammi.Howard@va.gov) or Dr. Heather Sidener (Heather.Sidener@va.gov, x55032) to arrange for a tour of the appropriate facility.
- Required Paperwork. Please complete the following form and return or email to Dr. Heather Sidener:
- Research Personnel Information form (41KB, MSWord)
Please contact Heather or Tammi to arrange training. Animals used for training will come from the VMU Training Protocol unless requested otherwise. Where certain strains have handling or procedural idiosyncrasies, it may be best to use the protocol strain for training. This must be requested in advance when arranging training.
Introduction to the Vivarium and Basic Rodent Techniques
Required for all staff working with animals prior to working within the vivarium. One hour of didactic training and one hour of hands on training, conducted separately.
Anesthesia Training
One hour of didactic training followed by two hands on components which may be undertaken together or separately: The first part of this training covers anesthetic (isoflurane) machine set up and break down, and the second part trains staff to anesthetize and recover animals from isoflurane anesthesia. Injectible anesthesia training must be specifically requested where needed, and investigators must provide the pharmaceuticals for the training according to their protocol. Anesthesia training often requires more than one session to achieve competance for new learners.
Surgical or Procedural Training
The VMU Supervisor is available to train lab staff on multiple advanced procedures including ovariectomy, pump implant, necropy, etc. Please contact Tammi Howard or Heather Sidener to discuss the specific training needs for your lab. Training for these types of procedures usually involves multiple sessions and modalities.
