- Dates: 12th – 15th January 2026
- Time: Live sessions will be held on all four days from 13:30 (UK time)
- Format: Pre-recorded webinars, e-learning modules and live, interactive sessions
- Cost: £300
Introduction
- Preventing and alleviating post-operative pain is a fundamental responsibility for everyone working with laboratory animals. Our popular workshop on this topic will run again on 12th–15th January. It is designed for animal technicians, veterinarians, research staff, and others seeking to improve their skills in recognising, preventing, and managing post-operative pain.
- Participants will have access to e-learning modules and five hours of pre-recorded seminars to prepare for the workshop. This allows the live sessions (2–3 hours per day) to focus on problem-based tasks, including discussions on the use of various analgesics. Detailed guidance will be provided on pain evaluation, with practical sessions on behaviour-based pain scoring methods in rodents and rabbits.
- The registration fee is £300 GBP.
- Participant numbers are limited to ensure interactive sessions remain effective and engaging.
Scheduling
- Participants will be encouraged to complete e-learning modules and to review some of the recommended reading before the live sessions.
- To make it easier to fit pre-recorded materials into your schedule, each is divided into short 15–30 minute video segments that can be viewed independently.
- Live sessions will run from 13:30 (UK) time on each day.
Content
- Over 5 hours of pre-recorded seminars.
- Four live sessions (90–150 minutes each), including time for Q&A and general discussion.
- Supporting e-learning modules on Pain Management and Pain Assessment.
- Supplementary reading and reference materials.
- All pre-recorded content is available in advance, with a suggested timetable to help plan your study.
- Participants can access all content for three months after its release.
- Workshop registration also includes access to all other training materials on the Research Animal Training (RAT) website.
Interactivity
- Pre-recorded seminars and e-learning modules will be available on www.researchanimaltraining.com, while live sessions will be conducted via the Teams webinar platform.
- Interactive elements will be supported using Mentimeter (mentimeter.com).
- While not required, participants may find it helpful to have a smartphone or tablet in addition to a laptop for the interactive sessions.
Workshop Programme
- What is pain? – An introduction to what we know about pain in people and animals.
- Why we need to assess post-operative and acute pain and how to do it – An overview of how methods of assessing post-operative pain have evolved, and an up-to-date summary of the methods that can be used in rodents and rabbits.
- Cage-side methods of pain assessment – A series of live webinars which will enable participants to practice pain scoring techniques, focusing on assessing pain-related behaviour and assessing pain faces in rats, mice and rabbits.
- Pain, nociception and how analgesics work – How different types of analgesics act to reduce or eliminate pain with links to our understanding of nociception and pain in animals.
- Analgesics – what to give, when and how – A review of the practicalities of managing pain in a research setting and a brief overview of pain management in non-mammalian species with additional information on analgesic use in larger mammals.
- Using analgesics in a research environment – problems and pitfall – A review of some of the reasons for the low level of use of analgesics in research animals and how some of these barriers to effective pain relief can be overcome.
- Post-operative care – Methods of reducing, avoiding or alleviating pain and distress by improving perioperative care, providing high standards of animal care, and by the refinement of research procedures.
- Practical exercises in avoiding and minimising pain and distress – Interactive sessions to enable participants to apply all the information given during the workshop to “Refine” some examples of research techniques.
Participant numbers are limited to ensure interactive sessions remain engaging and effective.
Make best practice your standard practice and sign up today.