Important BSC Change Announcement for 2021/2022

Basic Science Course (BSC) – Update from the ACVO Board of Regents (BOR)

As previously announced and recommended by the Basic Science Course Planning Committee (BSCPC), the ACVO BOR decided during its 2020 Spring meeting to convert the 2020 Basic Science Course (BSC) from an in-person/residential to an online course. This decision was mandated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the information available at the time, the BOR did not believe that hosting residential courses in both 2021 and 2022 was fiscally responsible. Instead, we decided that a 2022 residential course should follow the 2020 online BSC. Nevertheless, we continued to investigate how best to serve our educational mission, our members, and our fiscal responsibilities, and - together with the BSCPC - continued to explore options to host a 2021 BSC with minimal financial risks. In doing so, we considered the following factors and new developments:

  • Because no travel is required, the 2020 online course can be attended by a larger number of international participants, thereby minimizing financial risk for this year.

  • Hosting the BSC in both 2021 and 2022 continues to be a large financial risk under current circumstances. A 2021 BSC can only be considered if subsequent courses are held in odd years (2023, 2025, etc.).

    • Surveys sent to ABVO and ECVO Residents and their Mentors revealed that:

  • There was a strong preference among Residents for a 2021 in-person course

  • There was no majority among Mentors preferring a 2021 vs. 2022 BSC.

  • Estimated registration numbers for a 2021 course will likely achieve the break-even point to prevent a financial loss.

    • A survey sent to BSC Speakers showed that many are willing to partially or completely waive their honoraria, if necessary, to minimize BSC-related financial losses for the ACVO.

    • At this notice, the University of California-Davis (UC Davis) is unable to host a 2021 residential course; however, Dr. Mike Davidson was able to arrange for North Carolina State University (NC State) to run the course in 2021 and provided budget projections accordingly. These further supported the notion that a 2021 BSC would be an acceptable financial risk for the ACVO.

Together with the BSCPC, the ACVO BOR concluded that a 2020 online course (hosted by UC Davis) followed by a 2021 BSC (hosted by NC State) can be conducted with acceptable financial risk for the ACVO. Subsequent courses will then occur in odd years, i.e., 2023, 2025, etc. There is no intent to offer a course in 2022. Therefore, the ACVO BOR has decided to move the 2022 course to 2021. The course will take place from May 31 to June 18, 2021, with a firm intent that this will be an onsite course hosted at NC State. We acknowledge though that circumstances related to the Covid-19 pandemic may require transition to an online format for participant safety.

We appreciate the great collaboration between the ACVO BOR and the BSCPC, as well as the responsiveness and data provided by Residents, Mentors, and BSC Speakers. In particular, the BSCPC and ACVO BOR thank the many BSC speakers who have remained flexible with their time and generously offered to donate their expertise. Everyone’s participation allowed us to revise our decision and maximize the number of Residents provided an opportunity to attend the BSC in 2020 and/or in 2021 with the 2021 hopefully in-person, all the time remaining fiscally responsible during these uncertain times.

Teresa Black