The Michale E. Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research (KCCMR) at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center proposes to develop a two-year program to provide veterinarians with specialty training in the care and management of nonhuman primates in a biomedical research environment. Establishment of this program is in response to a recognized shortage of primate veterinarians due to the increased demands for this expertise in the biomedical research community. Over a period of five years, this program will support three residents that will be recruited from ACLAM-recognized Laboratory Animal Medicine (LAM) training programs. The curriculum established at the KCCMR includes an intensive core of rotations that spans the disciplines of clinical medicine, pathology, behavior and professional development. A five part seminar series and over 130 didactic lectures have been integrated into the curriculum to provide essential knowledge in these areas. Both internal and external methods have been established to evaluate the progress of the residents and the success of the program. An External Advisory Committee composed of directors of LAM training programs will conduct yearly reviews and report their findings to the Program Director. This will allow problem areas identified by these audits to be corrected without an inordinate loss of time within the program. ? ? ?
