Vivarium Training Programs for Individuals and Teams
Whether you're managing a small or large-scale research vivarium, the pressure to keep study timelines and support on track is constant. Success comes down to retaining, developing, and scaling your team and their skills. A well-trained team leads to increased productivity, efficiency, and morale, which reduces risks and costs for your team and facility.
Unfortunately, lab animal programs don’t always have the luxury of full-time technical training staff devoted to their animal care training needs, and managers have little time to develop and run these trainings independently.
Our Insourcing Solutions® team has extensive vivarium and animal care experience and infrastructure to fill training gaps from program development to execution. More importantly, we offer a range of competency-based animal care training delivered through hands-on and eLearning courses in real-world and simulated research environments to support staff retention and avoid the loss of essential knowledge.
Animal Care Training and Laboratory Skill Topics
Our expert trainers deliver standard training and customized programs to meet your vivarium training requirements while assuring regulatory compliance and upholding the scientific integrity of their research. Research animal training options include:
- A dedicated team of full-time, topic-specific trainers
- Hands-on instruction
- External experts, trainers, and lecturers
- Internal professional and technical staffing resources for specific instruction on a range of topics
In North America, we offer more than 85 core training programs, including:
- In vitro and in vivo laboratory training and orientation
- Vivarium technical skills
- American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) certification exam prep
- Bio methodology of the mouse and rat
- Quality assurance and control
- Professional, leadership, and management development
- Training documentation and record keeping
- Train-the-trainer programs
- Animal welfare and risk assessment
- Environmental/Occupational health and safety
- Accreditation/Certification Programs (US, EU, UK)
- Regulatory compliance
In Europe, we offer a range of regulatory and CPD courses customized to suit your needs. Clients in the United Kingdom can access options including Home Office Module Training for Personal License Holders (Categories PIL A, B, & C) and PPL Modules for Project License Applicants.
Customizable Vivarium Training Topics and Support
Animal care training and vivarium programs can be tailored to your team's specific needs, with topics such as skills-based proficiency and leadership growth. These programs can be virtual, in-person, or hybrid to best meet your needs. Without a well-structured training and development program, advancing and retaining top talent is a struggle. Watch this brief overview of our training program and course options.
Benefits of Working with Our Expert Training Services Team
Our team has partnered with commercial biopharma, academia, and government research organizations for over 20 years to teach best practices in the industry. We periodically develop and reevaluate our animal care training courses to ensure we leverage the latest techniques. This allows us to continue contributing to the 3Rs, increasing efficiency, and reducing risks. An upskilled team will save you money over time, and it can increase your team's satisfaction. You can expect:
| Cost Savings | Our animal welfare training will help avoid costly research missteps. |
| Reduced Risk | A well-trained team reduces the risk of research delay, safety mishaps, and mistakes. |
| Boosted Productivity | Teams that see leaders invested in their skill development show boosted morale and productivity, increasing the facility's success. |
| Increased Efficiency | When team members are confident in their skills, they can complete tasks more effectively, reducing the likelihood of errors. A mistake in dosing or measurements could set your research back by a few weeks, which could be critical when securing funding. |
Choose the Training Style That's Best for Your Team
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Online Animal Care Training and Certifications
Campus is our online platform with courses for continuing education, accreditation, and individualized training. We offer various competency-based animal care training delivered through eLearning courses. This option is excellent for individuals who cannot travel to a Charles River site for training or do not have one close by.
Animal care training courses and videos cover topics such as:
• AALAS certification
• Accreditation
• Animal welfare certifications
• Leadership development
• Orientation
• Onboarding
• Regulatory compliance
• Environmental/occupational health and safety courses -
On-site Animal Care Training
Our laboratory and research animal training educators can bring the lessons to your facility or host you at one of ours. This training is ideal for learning and practicing animal care and welfare training techniques, vivarium technical skills, specialized research skills, or performing a customized orientation.
We can do this by staging an environment for your team to practice and perfect these techniques. This allows us to ensure your team has skill proficiency before working on active research studies and programs.
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Off-site Training and Virtual Seminars
We host live virtual seminars, symposia, webinars, and workshops on animal care training, technical, and compliance topics throughout the year that are available for your facility team from animal care technicians, research support staff, scientists, veterinarians, and laboratory personnel.
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Train-the-Trainer Programs
If you have an ongoing training need, a train-the-trainer program gives you the flexibility to handle your own training internally at your own pace while increasing proficiency and team satisfaction at your facility.
Your "trainer" would either come to us or we would go to them to train them on key skills you need support with, allowing them to lead the training for new or existing team members as needed. This does not make your trainer a "certifier," but we can train them on a variety of topics for consistent skill development, including but not limited to:
• Animal care handling
• Research support
• Tumor measurements
• Regulatory compliance
Frequently Asked Questions About Animal Care Training and Certification
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I need training for a topic I do not see listed. Can you still support me?
We offer courses in various topics, but if you do not see the topic you are interested in, please fill out our contact us form to get in touch with our team. Customized training programs can be adapted to your team's unique needs.
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I do not currently work in a vivarium, but I want to take courses to prepare for a job in biotech/pharma. Can I still take courses?
Yes. To sign up for courses, you may browse our eLearning platform, Campus. We offer a limited number of free sample courses to help you decide if eLearning is right for you.
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Do you offer services in addition to research animal and laboratory training?
Our Insourcing Solutions® team offers a variety of fractional and full-time scientific recruiting and staffing services. The training courses we deliver through our Campus eLearning platform are also used for ongoing certification and development of internal technical and research staff who work within our clients' facilities. Take a look at our staffing services.
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What is Charles River’s commitment to humane care and the well-being of research animal models?
One of our core values is the humane care and well-being of research animals. Programs are in place and are continuously enhanced to ensure that animal welfare remains a priority through the Humane Care Imperative (HCI), environmental enrichment and behavioral management programs, the 3Rs Global Working Group, and a continued focus on personnel training.
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Why is AAALAC accreditation important?
When a research vivarium has AAALAC accreditation, it shows that a certain level of quality and accountability has been achieved. AAALAC accreditation is a voluntary, extensive review and assessment process from industry-leading experts. Achieving AAALAC accreditation for your programs lets the public know that the vivarium is committed to responsible practices and demonstrates excellence in animal care.