Any individual that is to work with live vertebrate animals must be enrolled in the University's OHSP.  This requirement is met through completion of an occupational health and safety questionnaire.  The questionnaire will be emailed to the individual following submission of the Animal Protocol and/or amendment to the IACUC Office.

The appropriate modules of the Animal Use Education Courses via CITI online training must be successfully completed prior to approval of an individual to an Animal Protocol.

• The Working with the IACUC module and applicable species-specific module(s) are required for all personnel.
• The Aseptic Surgery CITI module is required for those individuals performing non-survival or survival surgery.
• A short training video and associated quiz via ICON is also required for survival surgeries only.

All other modules are recommended but not required.

To enroll

• Click here:  Training Form.  Complete the form and select the appropriate training needs (CITI training +/- surgical training).
• Click submit.
• An email with further instructions will be sent to the enrollee's University of Iowa email address when enrollment is complete.
• Once enrolled in the AUEC, access to all AUEC modules is enabled. 

Instructions on how to gain access to the animal facilities:

Step 1: Click here: Training Form. Complete the form and click Animal Facility Access Training at the bottom.  Click submit.

Step 2: Form information will be verified.  The Access Coordinator will enroll the requester in the online training course through ICON/CANVAS.  

Step 3: Complete the online training course, including passing the quiz with a score of at least 80%.  At the completion of the course/quiz, submit the webform indicating the facilities for which you require orientation.

Step 4: The Access Coordinator will contact you regarding training time(s) and schedule training through the Outlook calendar system.

Step 3: Requester will need to print the form attached to the Outlook orientation invitation. The form must be brought to each orientation session to obtain the required signature(s). 

Step 4: Attend the scheduled training session.  If unable to attend, please contact oar-facility-training@uiowa.edu(link sends e-mail). Animal facility orientation/tour will be provided by the facility supervisor or an OAR veterinarian.

Step 5: Once training is complete in all required animal facilities and the form has been signed by each trainer, please contact Oar-facility-training@uiowa.edu(link sends e-mail).  Access Coordinator will schedule an appointment to perform hand scan and grant access.

Rodent animal housing facility entry order:

The order in which rodent housing facilities are accessed is dictated by the animals' health status in each facility.  Some risks accepted in the non-barrier facilities are excluded from the barrier facilities.  Therefore, if personnel must handle animals housed in both types of facilities:

• Barrier facilities must always be accessed and animals handled prior to non-barrier facilities/animals.
• After working with rodents housed in a non-barrier facility, the barrier facility must not be entered until the next day unless permission is granted in advance by an OAR veterinarian.

OAR Technique Training Labs is “hands-on”.  This is a "hands-on" training lab in which each person is offered materials needed to participate fully.

1. Introduction to the Mouse: All training items below are covered in the course

• Methods of mouse handling and restraint
  • Animal behavior assessment prior to restraint
  • Tail-only restraint
  • Restrain by the scruff
  • Restraint devices
• Determining Sex
  • How do you distinguish between a male and a female mouse?
• Review common rodent health concerns and how to identify them
  • Visualize teeth, extrude penis (if applicable), palpate abdomen
  • Role of veterinary staff and the need to report health concerns
• Application of topical treatments
  • SSD or topical triple antibiotic ointment for skin conditions
  • Ophthalmic ointment for ocular conditions
• Genotyping and Identification
  • Genotyping policy
  • Ear punches/ Ear Tags
    • Review UI mouse identification/ear punch system
  • Tailing with use of restraint device
    • Application of hemostasis.
• Review euthanasia of mice with CO₂ and Confirmation of Death Policy
• Treating Malocclusion

2. Mouse Non-Surgical Procedures: Only specific techniques requested are trained in the course

• Oral Gavage
• Injection techniques
• Blood collection techniques
• Collection of samples (e.g. feces, urine)
• Other techniques by request

All research personnel must be listed on an approved Animal Protocol to participate in this class.  There is no charge.  Class will last approximately 2 hours.

To register:

• Click here:  Training Form.  Complete the form and select OAR Technique Training Labs at the bottom.  Click submit.
• Registrant will receive email notification of available lab dates. 

• All research personnel already listed on approved Animal Protocols are required to complete annual refresher training.  The training may be completed one of two ways: 1) By inviting an IACUC representative to attend your lab meeting and go through the training with the lab team or 2) By having each person complete the training through the ICON/Canvas course.

Method 1): If you would like to schedule a time for the IACUC representative to go through the training with your lab, or if you have any questions regarding the annual training requirement, please contact the IACUC at 467-4419, 353-5881 or iacuc-pam@uiowa.edu(link sends e-mail).

Method 2):  Check your available ICON courses for IACUC Annual Refresher Training. https://uiowa.instructure.com/courses/240082 . Complete the course.  

If you have not already already been enrolled in the course, please email iacuc-pam@uiowa.edu(link sends e-mail) to request access to these materials.