With increasing globalization and a trend towards international harmonization of standards for the care and use of animals in research and testing, there is a significant need to assist and support countries to develop training programs for laboratory animal veterinarians. Although formal educational opportunities for training laboratory animal veterinarians exist through well-established specialty colleges of laboratory animal medicine such as ACLAM, ECLAM, JCLAM, and KCLAM or through other professional organisations, such as the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations (FELASA), opportunities for participating in these programs are often limited to veterinarians in North America, Western Europe and specific regions of Asia. Creative thinking is required to develop cost-effective, practical, entry-level and advanced continuing education and applied training programs for veterinarians working in the field of laboratory animal medicine around the world. This paper will describe one potential solution for this issue, the use of a distance education program that provides theoretical information in a virtual classroom with applied training modules to deliver knowledge and practical skills to laboratory animal veterinarians. This type of program takes advantage of the online learning environment and can be an effective means to deliver training at the grassroots level to adult learners.
