Department Overview

The Department of Comparative Medicine at OHSU is dedicated to ensuring the well-being, health, and housing of research animals across both the central and waterfront campuses. In addition, it actively supports the pioneering research efforts undertaken by OHSU investigators.

The Clinical Veterinary Technician 1 assists in providing clinical care, nursing support and husbandry for a variety of laboratory research animals. This is the first level of a three-level series. It is distinguished from the higher levels by reduced responsibility for performing complex animal care protocols, veterinary diagnostic and treatment procedures. At this level, there is an emphasis on animal health assessment and care, administration of treatments and training. Greater supervision is provided. It is distinguished from other Veterinary Technician series by the emphasis on providing veterinary clinical care and nursing support of sick and/or injured animals

Function/Duties of Position

• Clinical Case Assessment/Triage.
  • Independently evaluates new and ongoing clinical cases for abnormal behavior, illness and injury. Provides basic treatments, within clinical care guidelines or as determined by a veterinarian. Provides instruction on proper use of drugs including dosages, routes of administration, duration and correct patient care. Provides ongoing assessment of open cases for veterinary follow-up, as needed. Determines which cases require immediate care and which can be managed through routine practices. Collects diagnostic samples (i.e., parasitology, microbiology, hematology, serology, urinalysis) and interprets diagnostic samples (i.e. parasitology, microbiology) in consultation with veterinarians. Prepares samples for shipping to appropriate laboratories, when necessary. Requires adequate knowledge of normal physiological parameters, normal growth and development and typical disease processes for all age groups and research species cared for to allow accurate assessment of symptoms. Knowledge and ability to participate in care, perform procedures and utilize appropriate personal protective equipment. Health assessment of animals housed in animal biosafety level-2 conditions is required. Inter and intra-departmental communication with husbandry, research and veterinary staff regarding cases is required.
• Therapeutics.
  • Is trained in and performs standard clinical procedures with research animals, including but not limited to, checking for standard pathogens and treating as appropriate; venipuncture, intravenous and urethral catheter placement; medication dose calculations, fluid rate and gas anesthetic/oxygen rate calculations; administration of medications via intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous, intradermal, oral and other routes; body fluid and tissue collection; cleans and bandages wounds; assists in and performs dental management for various species, including trimming rodent and rabbit incisors using appropriate equipment; weighs animals and assists in animal monitoring and recovery from sedation or anesthesia. Assists in the application of bandages or splints. Requires adequate manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills necessary to correctly perform clinical and technical procedures. Knowledge of veterinary clinical technology and biological principles, which underlie clinical illness and veterinary procedures is essential. Knowledge of basic anatomy, physiology and medical terminology is required to understand procedures being performed and treatments prescribed. Solid understanding of the principles of aseptic technique is required.
• Recordkeeping and observation.
  • Prepares and updates treatment sheets and other ancillary health record keeping. Monitors documentation of animal treatments by husbandry staff. Familiar with standardized medical terminology and nomenclature; able to communicate and record patient information in appropriate formats.
• Technical services.
  • Prepares, maintains and dispenses portable anesthesia machines. Performs technical services, including, but not limited to placing ear tags and genotyping colony mice, administration of drugs used in a research protocol; measuring food and/or helping with a variety of research protocols.
• Administrative.
  • Checks DCM-OPS for service requests. Processes incoming rodents from commercial vendors. Data entry of veterinary health reports into centralized database with data queries, as needed. Prepares documents and supplies prior to shipment arrival. Cleans receiving rooms and performs minor equipment maintenance, as needed.

Required Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED
• State certification through the Veterinary Medical Examining Board AND certification or ability to obtain certification through AALAS at the ALAT level within one year of employment.
• A valid Driver's License and the ability to drive departmental vehicles on and off campus.
• Requires 1 years' experience caring for animals in a veterinary hospital or a laboratory animal facility including 6 months in a clinical position.
• Clinical care experience that allows for effective assessment of injury, illness or behavioral changes of colony animals.
• Experience operating a variety of equipment used in clinical practice, veterinary nursing skills sick patients; excellent eye-hand coordination.
• Effective oral and written communication skills with members of the OHSU workforce, including scientists, graduate students, clinicians, technical and veterinary staff.
• Ability to interact in a positive, productive and effective manner to build respectful relationships within and outside of the department.
• Strong customer service-oriented approach to communication and animal care support.
• Intermediate level skills in Word, Excel, email and other communication platforms; ability to prioritize work demands, and coordinate departmental services to all users.

All are welcome