Comparative Medicine employee receives certification

Tricia Rump, left, and Joe Krajicek are the only CMAR certificate holders in Nebraska. The certification recognizes competency and professionalism in the field of animal resources management.

Joe Krajicek, assistant director for operations, UNMC Comparative Medicine, has been awarded professional certification as Certified Manager of Animal Resources (CMAR).

Krajicek is the second person in UNMC’s Department of Comparative Medicine to be certified at the CMAR level. Tricia Rump, business manager, UNMC Comparative Medicine, was the first in Nebraska to become CMAR certified in 2004. The CMAR program is relatively new and was designed to recognize competency and professionalism in the field of animal resources management.

“Our current American Association of Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) certification level for eligible personnel at UNMC is very high — 78 percent,” said Steve Dixon, DVM, director of comparative medicine at UNMC. “Considering that there are only 115 CMAR certificate holders worldwide, we are quite fortunate to have two of them at UNMC.”

In 2000, the Institute of Certified Professional Managers (ICPM) formed an alliance with the AALAS and the Laboratory Animal Management Association (LAMA) to create the CMAR program. The alliance combines ICPM’s expertise in management with AALAS and LAMA’s expertise in animal science to form a unified certification program for animal resource managers. ICPM is a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the professionalism and competency of managers.

Krajicek and Rump are two of only six CMAR certificate holders in AALAS District VI, which covers the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. They are the only CMAR certificate holders in Nebraska.

The eligibility requirements for CMAR certification include, a bachelor’s or higher degree from an accredited college or university; five years of laboratory animal-specific experience; three years of management or supervisory experience in the laboratory animal field and successful completion of four certifying examinations. AALAS, LAMA and ICPM jointly certify successful candidates.

The first animal resources exam was given at the AALAS National Meeting in Baltimore, Md., in October 2001.