Q&A for Lifelong Learning

In principle, an Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA) is a procedure or list of procedures that you perform on a laboratory animal at a given moment in the context of care, education or an experiment. We assume that there is a separate SOP for this procedure and that it can be summarised in a single line in Table 4 or Table 6 of the work protocol. During a complex procedure, you may become proficient in simpler and partial procedures of the EPA, such as injecting fluids during or prior to a complex operation. We refer to such a simple procedure as a nested EPA, which can be signed off together with the more complex EPA.

You are responsible for keeping track of what you have done to maintain your expertise in an LLL portfolio. Make sure you keep any evidence, such as certificates, and the date on which you worked on your skills and knowledge. The implementation guide specifies the information you need to keep track of for each activity. 

You can download an example of such a portfolio in Excel, which requests all these points, here. This information must be accessible to both your manager and the LLL coordinator. The latter must be able to share this information with the AWB during the registration meeting.

The UMC is registering competence within U-learn. Utrecht University has no system just yet. If you work for the UU, then the best option is to keep an Excel document, an example can be downloaded here. It is important to note the name of the supervisor and assessor, and the date of assessment of each EPA you are competent in. For EPAs you already have mastered, also keep track of when someone has observed you to do a reassessment.

In some situations it may not be possible to be registered as competent, for example in pilot studies where the feasibility of a new or modified technique is being tried out. However, this does not mean that there are no competency requirements. it may be that the AWB wants you to demonstrate that you are competent in a comparable technique, or to work under the supervision of someone who is competent in a comparable technique. Include this in the training section of your work protocol.  

Yes, concerning knowledgeability it is important that all involved keep their expertise about the usage of animals in science up to date, if research questions leads to utilizing animals. This can be a workshop or training on systematic reviews, searching alternatives or involving alternatives in model choice. Also further training on animal research specific statistics or design could be considered (low number statistics, or complex randomization) If someone does not have the time to do this, this scientist can best hand over the responsibility of applying for licenses or setting op Work Protocols to a knowledgeable person. If someone does not handle animals, there is no need to maintain practical competences with animals.

The answer is yes. Our policy is the minimum. Starting point is that animals that are being used in our facility, are only being utilized by knowledgeable and competent persons. So persons employed from outside do not have to be less knowledgeable or competent. If they contribute here from another institute with has less demanding requirements concerning Lifelong Learning, than our policy applies.

You are working towards a common goal, that is, the confidence that a person can perform a given task independently and responsibly. It is important that the trainer and assessor use the same method. The path to independently performing a task entails evaluation and feedback. After all, evaluating is also a part of the learning process.

You can register yourself for an appointment. You can do so through our registration form online. 

The AWB competency officer determines whether you have had sufficient training to be appointed as a supervisor or assessor. You can submit a certificate for this. It is important that you have learned how to properly supervise and assess. The learning objectives are in the ETPLAS module 27 and have been published in Biotechniek 25 (5) P32-33, and will be additionally published in the European Directive on Education & Training. 

In time, a training course of several days will be offered within Utrecht in which you can learn this. Basic training courses of the SBB, the BKO/SKO of a university or the BKE of a university of applied sciences can also serve as proof. In that case, the training is optional. In all cases we advise that you complete the online module 27 at the ETPLAS website to ensure alignment with other competence assessors.

Yes, we presume  that everywhere you needed to be competent. You can submit proof that you have performed the EPA elsewhere if it is no more than two years old, or an assessment by an assessor there that is no more than five years old. However, you must undergo a peer review (Word) as soon as you start working here with the EPA (entrusted professional activity), so that your working methods are aligned with our working methods here. If you do not have proof, you must be assessed here by a designated assessor.

After a final assessment, you may carry out a procedure for a maximum of two years before someone observes you again. If your last assessment was no more than five years ago, you must arrange for re-assessment (Word) as soon as you resume work on the EPA (entrusted professional activity). This allows for a review of whether your working method is still adequate. You may therefore continue with your planned execution of the procedure, but you must schedule someone to perform the re-assessment.

For a re-assessment, you can ask a colleague who performs similar techniques and may already be involved in the WP. You can also always ask an assessor. For the re-assessment, you use a re-assessment form (Word).

Whatever you agree with the supervisor or assessor. In the past, it was already expected that you were trained and assessed. Now this is formalised. We presume that departments offer an exchange or their supervisors and assessors at no extra cost, as was practice in the past, to ensure quality together without all kind of financial burden. Training by a facility like the GDL might be billed within the project.

If you are unable to find a supervisor or assessor within your department, collaborating departments, or the animal facility for an EPA (entrusted professional activity) that you want to learn, please contact the IvD. We will then use our network to suggest suitable people. This may also include a commercial training facility.

Yes, your department has to pay for this. Because this is a specific course, the license holders decided not to pass it on to all departments through the education budget. This would be unfair to departments that do not conduct animal experiments.Also, you now retain the freedom to choose your own course provider, provided all learning outcomes of competence assessor are met. The learning objectives are in the ETPLAS module 27 and have been published in Biotechniek 25 (5) P32-33, and will be additionally published in the European Directive on Education & Training.

We made a list of options: Further training possibilities.

Ask your LLL coordinator to complete the procedure in the EPA list in the teams environment for UMC LLL coordinators. Each quarter (February, May, August and November) this list is updated by the Ulearn team at UMC. If you submit a work protocol before this update that contains this procedure, you can include your final assessment form as proof.