TRAINING REQUIREMENTS

Both the University of Florida and Federal Regulations (USDA & PHS) require training and continuing education of all scientists, research technicians, animal care technicians, and all others involved with animal care and use.

The IACUC is required to act as an agent of UF to determine that personnel are adequately trained and qualified to conduct procedures on a given species and to maintain documentation of this training.

Before any individual at UF may have animal contact, the following must be completed
(REQUIRED FOR ALL):

1. The Health Risk Assessment Form for the EH&S Animal Contact Program. Please use the most recent form found on their website. Follow the instructions on the form which outline where to fax & mail the form. The IACUC will receive notification from EH&S when you have been approved to work with animals. Start this process early as approval may take at least two or more weeks! Registration must be completed before working with animals and renewed every three years.

2. Level 1 Training-The AALAS Learning Library (ALL) website has courses available to users of animals at UF. Register on-line to take the Working with the UF IACUC course & exam that is appropriate for the species of animal you will be using (either Lab Animals or Agriculture & Wildlife). A minimum passing exam score is 85% and re-examination is required every three years.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR WORKING WITH THE UF IACUC:

Go to the AALAS Website. Click on "Enroll now!", then "Join a group". You will need an access code to register. Please call our office at 392-9917 for this code. Enter the access code. There is no charge for you to register on AALAS and take the courses. IF YOU ARE ASKED TO MAKE A PAYMENT, YOU ENROLLED AS AN INDIVIDUAL; YOU NEED TO START OVER AGAIN AND "JOIN A GROUP". Create a username and password for your account. Complete all fields required for your registration. When you hit "continue", you'll get the notice "Enrollment Completed"; hit "continue" again. You will see your Profile. Click on the "Libraries" tab at the top of the page, then Animal Care and Use Courses. Finally, click on "UF Researchers - IACUC Training Modules" and choose the course appropriate for the species of animal you are using.

3. Online AALAS modules for specific species and applicable procedures. This is the same website that is used to take "Working with the UF IACUC". Please see the paragraph directly above for registration information. Training requirements for UF researchers were updated and approved by the IACUC in June 2008; you may see the requirement description here. If there is no module for the species that you will be working with OR if you will only be working with animal tissue, you are not required to take any of these modules.

THE FOLLOWING ARE REQUIRED AS APPROPRIATE:

1. All individuals working with mouse breeding colonies, outside of ACS, are required to take and pass "Mouse Breeding Colony Management". All individuals breeding genetically engineered mice, outside of ACS, are ALSO required to take "Genetically Engineered Mice: Approaches for Evaluating the Phenotype" AND "Genetically Engineered Mice: Overview of Transgenesis and Conditional Control".

2. In order to obtain security clearance to access the ACS housing and procedures areas, individuals must attend an ACS Animal Awareness Seminar covering the use of their facilities and complete the online blackboard training. Contact ACS for more information.

3. For visitors to the University of Florida who will be handling animals, the IACUC requires that they assure the committee and the University that they have met their own institution's federal training requirements. Please see the requirements approved on June 27, 2008. Because we currently have two protocol systems in place; myIACUC and the paper forms available for protocols approved prior to January 2008, a Visitor Certification Assurance form for visitors must be completed if you are still using the paper system for older protocols. People submitting protocols or changes on the myIACUC system do NOT need to complete this form.

Additional formal training/testing may be required as determined by the IACUC or ACS Veterinarians on a case-by-case basis, depending on an individual's experience, skills or specific circumstances. If the Principal Investigator of a project will NOT be contacting animals, he or she still must complete Level-1 training and be registered with EH&S. If the Principal Investigator WILL be contacting animals, then all applicable requirements must be completed.

TUTORIALS & SPECIES-SPECIFIC RESOURCES (USEFUL, BUT NOT REQUIRED):
An assortment of additional resources are available as tutorials and species-specific training modules are available from a variety of sources:

• Care and Handling of Sheep & Goats (University of Arizona)
• Care and Handling of Cattle (University of Arizona)
• Care and Handling of Poultry (University of Arizona)
• Care and Handling of Xenopus laevis (University of Arizona)
• Other tutorials and resources