ABSTRACT
Medical training is common in marine mammal husbandry and is an essential tool for effective marine mammal medicine. It was originally developed to enhance the welfare of animals and diminish their stress, as well as to reduce the risks of humans and animals being hurt during handling and anesthesia. Medical training refers to the types of husbandry behaviors, based on operant conditioning, that have become integrated into marine mammal training programs. This training can result in the collection of a sample or the needed information in only a few minutes, rather than the hours to days needed in planning restraint or anesthetic procedures. Initially, medical examinations through voluntary approaches were limited to assessing physical parameters and the collection of several body fluids and exudates (Sweeney 1990). They have evolved over the years with the advent of transportable diagnostic imaging tools (Lacave 1997) and access to newer specific investigation technologies, to allow advanced diagnostics (Lacave 2012a). In many instances, however, especially in zoological environments, the veterinarians are not familiar with operant conditioning, nor realize the importance of the desensitization steps to obtain a specific behavior. This can jeopardize the outcome, due to either an inadequate approach or lack of patience. On the other hand, if the trainers and keepers have good communications with their veterinarian, a correct set-up and an adequate approach for a specific procedure can be defined from the beginning and medical training can enhance marine mammal care, diagnostics, treatment, and well-being.
