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Qualified education of persons involved in animal experiments is, in itself, a means of applied refinement in Laboratory Animal Science (LAS). This is implemented in practice by LAS courses in which basic theoretical knowledge is taught and essential manual skills are trained prior to working with live animals. Since, to date, none of the available alternative methods can fully provide an adequate acquisition of practical skills under realistic conditions, most courses predominantly include training involving live animals, usually rats and mice. According to the Directive 2010/63/EU, this training is categorized as an animal experiment and the implementation of the 3Rs is requested [1]. A further refinement strategy is the use of simulators prior to training with live animals, by which the stressful impact of training procedures on the animals can be reduced to an indispensable minimum. Currently, five rat simulators and one mouse simulator for first practice in handling and procedural techniques and one rat simulator for microsurgical techniques are commercially available on the international market. Since only few data concerning the suitability and efficiency of these simulators exist, a team of scientists from the Department of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, set out to systemically evaluate all currently available rat and mouse simulators in a multi-perspective approach.
In order to investigate the implementation and suitability of rat and mouse simulators in LAS courses, a questionnaire for trainers and advisers was developed concerning the use of and satisfaction with these simulators. Furthermore, requirements for the improvement of future simulators were determined. The survey, in which 37 course trainers and advisers from Germany and neighboring countries took part in, was accessible online from 2018-
05-31 until 2019-06-30 and is currently being statistically analyzed. The outcome of which will be presented at the EUSAAT congress in October 2019.