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Lab Training Requirements

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Nathan Perkins edited this page Mar 31, 2017 · 3 revisions

Below is the necessary training and approval for performing research with animals in the lab. Most of this information comes from the IACUC training page.

Central to all the instructions below is RIMS, an online portal for management your training and accessing training resources.

The general training before getting into the animal specifics include:

  • Laboratory Safety Training - General laboratory safety training, available both online (via RIMS) or in-person. This course is required for all members of the lab.
  • ROHP Registration - As a lab worker, you must register for the occupational health program, which provides medical coverage for work related issues. The registration is a paper form with questions about medical history and immunizations. The form can be downloaded and electronically submitted. Following completion, annual status updates must be filed (on a different form).
  • Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) - Depending on your funding source, this may or may not be required. It is an NIH and NSF specified training on ethics in research. It requires four in-person meetings totalling eight hours.

If applicable:

  • [Laser Safety Online Training]

The training required for animal work includes:

  • IACUC Orientation - A one time orientation required before being added to an IAUCUC protocol. Annual refreshers are required each year afterwards. This course is taken online via RIMS. Once complete, you can be added to the IACUC protocol.
  • Working with the IACUC - Required before being added on to an IACUC protocol, and again every three years.
  • Anesthetic Gases (ANES001) - Training on the anesthetic gases use (Isoflurane). This course is taken online via RIMS. Note from Sanne: I have not taken this course, it might not be obligatory.
  • Controlled Substances Basic Training - If you want permission to work with controlled substances (euthasol, ketamine, xylazine), you must complete the controlled substance training and be added to the controlled substance protocol. This can be taken online via RIMS.(Drugs like meloxicam and isoflurane are not controlled substances)
  • BUASC New Research Orientation - This is not a requirement for those only working with zebra finches. I am not sure if this is still required, but it is an in-person training session. You do not need to do a facility tour, as we do not use the shared animal facilities.

Next, a number of courses are taken through the AALAS learning library covering specifics of animal surgery, pain management and anesthesia. All of these courses are accessed through RIMS, via the "Other AALAS Training" row (this provides you with access to a third party site that manages these additional training resources). Specifically, I was told to take the following modules, each of which involve several pages of reading and an exam at the end:

Finally -- last but not least -- an in-person protocol review is required with a staff member from the animal care department. Generally, before this, you should sit in on one or two surgeries to learn our general protocol. The staff member may review details about the process with you and ask you general questions about handling anesthesia, monitoring animal temperature, etc. It is meant not as a test, but as an information session and he can provide guidance or information on details that you are less clear on. Previously, this has always been handled by David Cawston, of the Animal Science Center (dwc01@bu.edu).

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