Job Summary

Under the direction of the Director of the Office of Laboratory Animal Resources (OLAR), the Occasional Clinical Veterinarian will provide veterinary medical services, clinical supervision, and consultation and training to research investigators, technicians, and husbandry staff.

Job Duties

Veterinary Responsibilities

• Provide veterinary medical services for all species used in the biomedical research and teaching programs at Caltech including but not limited to conventional and genetically altered mice, rats, Old world primates, rabbits, fish, frogs, and zebra finches. Veterinary care encompasses disease diagnosis though physical evaluation, collection and submission of pertinent samples to diagnostic laboratories, radiology, evaluation of laboratory results, treatment regime development, and assessment, provision of supportive and follow-up care and completion of medical records in accordance with regulatory requirements.
• Provide daily direction to OLAR veterinary technicians including assisting in developing work schedules and treatment assignments.
• Provision of full necropsy services including gross necropsy evaluation and creation of a written report, submission of tissue samples for histopathology, and histopathology report interpretation.
• Maintain appropriate programs of disease prevention and control commensurate with accepted veterinary medical practice. Provision of routine preventive medical care for all species includes but is not limited to:

1. semiannual physical examination, tuberculin testing, blood work analysis, serologic viral surveillance, parasitology for all nonhuman primates.
2. implementation and monitoring of health surveillance program involving multiple rodent colonies on campus including serology, parasitology, bacteriology and histopathology.
3. semiannual health evaluation of rabbit, bird, and amphibian colonies.

• Work closely with the animal care technical staff to ensure the efficiency of animal health and husbandry programs. Monitor veterinary care and make recommendations to the Director of OLAR on any proposed changes. Provide review and input on implementation of standard operating procedures for all aspects of routine veterinary care in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act and PHS Policy on the Human Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.
• Collaborate with the Director to provide oversight and management to insure an efficient and effective animal transfer program for all animal transfers to and from the Institute. This program involves timely correspondence with faculty and veterinarians at other institutions, review of health surveillance data, and provision of adequate quarantine for incoming animals to minimize potential exposure of in-house animals to infectious agents.

Teaching/Training Responsibilities

• Provide technical training for animal care and technical staff, students, post-docs, and faculty. Training topics include but are not limited to: aseptic technique, surgery, anesthesia, pain recognition and assessment, regulations pertaining to the use of laboratory animals, Caltech policies and procedures involving the use of laboratory animals, animal handling, specific techniques, zoonotic disease prevention, ethics of animal use, and alternatives to animal use.

Technical Assistance

• Provide technical assistance/support on research issues pertaining to use of laboratory animals in biomedical research including surgery, anesthesia, analgesia, technical features, experimental design, animal model selection, etc.

Administrative Responsibilities

• Assist in providing veterinary pre-review of animal protocol applications.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Director of OLAR.

Regulatory Responsibilities

• Participate in providing regulatory oversight and guidance to insure institutional compliance with local, state, and federal regulatory agencies including the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Public Health Service/National Institutes of Health/ Office of Protection from Research Risks (PHS/NIH/OPRR), Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), California State Department of Health Services, and California Department of Fish and Game.

Basic Qualifications

• Position requires DVM/VMD from an AVMA accredited institution or its foreign equivalent.
• Current licensure in at least one state.
• Minimum of 2 years experience in clinical veterinary medicine.

Preferred Qualifications

• Excellent written and oral communication skills and the ability to establish and maintain collaborative working relationships with staff and faculty.
• Ability to provide direction and guidance to technical personnel.
• Knowledge and expertise in diagnosis and treatment of diseases specific to laboratory animals and regulatory guidelines as they apply to use of animals in biomedical research strongly preferred.

Required Documents

• Resume
• Cover Letter