McMaster Animal Facilities Training
Announcements
Email us to get access to our SharePoint Page. Orientation is now "Animal Facilities Orientation" All site-specific tours found there.
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Welcome to Animal Facility Training
To gain access to this site please download the Training registration form ( link below). Please have your PI fill out the training required (based on their AUP, and your responsibilities) and sign where required. All fields at the top of the form must be filled out.
Email the completed form to afmtrain@mcmaster.ca
A username and password for this site, along with detailed instructions will be emailed to you once your document has been processed.
Please use this Document for Perquisites to ensure you have the requirements for each course. Other than the endpoints course, you MUST have taken at least Orientation and Animal handling before you can take any other courses.
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Please have your PI (the person who holds the AUP you are working on) fill out the form with you and have them sign off where required. You will receive a welcome package that will include important information, including your login to this website.
You must download the form, and open from your computer before being able to fill out all sections.
Email form to afmtrain@mcmaster.ca
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Pre-reqs are listed on each course registration page.
Here is a list for reference when booking your courses.
Please email afmtrain@mcmaster.ca if you have any questions. -
IMPORTANT information for each course
Quizzes must be completed, and Documents Of Training (DOTs) submitted, 2 business days (by 10am) before the course start date-weekends and holidays not included. You will be removed from a course if this deadline is not adhered to.
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ANIMAL FACILITY TRAINING ATTENDANCE
Arrive 15 min before the start of the course.
If you arrive once the course was set to start (i.e. at 11:01 when training was set to start at 11:00), you will not be admitted. Any students arriving after the trainer has brought the other students into the facility will not be admitted, and will need to sign up for the next available offering. At the CAF, students will need to wait at the entrance to the facility for the trainer to pick them up.
Please follow the most up-to-date COVID protocols by going the the McMaster Covid Page (https://covid19.mcmaster.ca/)
Please note that training space is prioritized to those who require the techniques for their research projects. If you are taking any training out of interest, you may be removed from the course if the course fills up. You will be notified, and can sign up for the next scheduled session.
IN THE CASE YOU CANNOT MAKE A TRAINING SESSION YOU HAVE BOOKED
If the course has not closed to bookings, please read the "how to book and cancel training" file below to remove yourself. If the course has closed to bookings, please email us at afmtrain@mcmaster.ca to inform us that you will not be attending training. Removing the course from your calendar will not remove your booking.
Please note that 24 hours’ notice (via email) must be given for all course cancellations. Notification on the morning of a course, before the course starts, is acceptable in the case of illness or emergency. If a course is missed without prior notification, (even in the case of illness) please email us at afmtrain@mcmaster.ca to provide an explanation. We will then require communication from the PI regarding the absence prior to allowing entry into subsequent courses.
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MANAGING YOUR COURSES
Once you book into courses, they will automatically show in the calendar included on the right hand side of the page. You can import this calendar into your email calendars. There will not be any reminder emails sent out. Please keep track of your course dates and times.
Please contact afmtrain@mcmaster.ca if you would like Orientation, Rat/Mouse Handling and Euthanasia, as well as Endpoints courses to appear on your transcript.
LOCATION OF COURSES
All courses, (except site specific Orientation for SJH, Psychology, LSB, and DBRI; and most Endpoint courses) are in the CAF. Please check the location, and contact us at afmtrain@mcmaster.ca if you have any questions.
TECHNOLOGY AND TRAINING
Please do not bring your cell phone to training sessions, or turn them off, they are distracting to the trainer, other students and you!
ON A WAITLIST?
- The only waitlist is online, and is limited to 1 or 2.
- Still submit your DOT and complete the quiz as if you were in the course or you will be removed from the waitlist. There is always the chance that there could be a late cancellation. You can also come to the course, in case someone does not show, or shows up late.
- In the case where there is more than one person on the waitlist, and both people show up, the first person will get the spot. But if everyone from the course shows up, those on the waitlist will be turned away. There are no guarantees.
- Please ensure you sign up for the next available course, to ensure you have a secured spot in an offering.
- If you get off of the waitlist, please remove yourself from the future course you signed up for.
- For example, you signed up for Level 2 on November 15th, and are 1st on the waitlist. You signed up for the course on December 1st so you had a secured reservation. On November 11th, you see that you have moved out of the waitlist and have a secured spot in the course. You would then go into your reservations and cancel yourself out of the course on December 1st.
- Please ensure you check your registration the day before the course to see if you have moved from the waitlist into an assured registered space in the course.
- You will NOT be notified if you have been moved from a waitlist spot into an assured registered space.
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Please read this document prior to registering for your training courses.
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YOUR SAFETY (AND THE ANIMAL'S SAFETY) DURING TRAINING IS IMPORTANT TO US
Please ensure you have eaten prior to attending any courses.
IF you have two courses back to back (i.e. CAF Orientation, Mouse Handling/Euthanasia) pack a high energy snack to quickly eat between courses.
Should you be fasting for any reason, you may want to defer your training to avoid any potential of passing out during a training session, or alert the trainer prior to the start of training so a chair can be provided.
Similarly, if you have a history of fainting, have given blood the same day, have an aversion to blood, are pregnant or have any other medical conditions that may predispose you to fainting, please speak to the trainer prior to the start of the session so a chair can be provided where applicable.
If you feel faint at any point in time, sit on the floor IMMEDIATELY and inform the trainer. Chairs are not safe to sit in if you are feeling faint.
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