The first Basic Science Course was held at North Carolina State University in 1994.  The impetus for its development was to provide discipline-specific and species-specific training to ACVO residents, similar to that provided by the analogous course in human ophthalmology at Stanford University.  Prior to 1994, many ACVO residents attended this or similar human ophthalmology courses.   The course was named the William Magrane Basic Science Course in Veterinary and Comparative Ophthalmology in honor of this pioneer in our specialty. Subsequent courses have been hosted by the University of Wisconsin, University of Florida, and University of California Davis. While the course was originally directed at ACVO/ABVO residents and subsequently ECVO residents, it became evident at the first course that there was tremendous enthusiasm for the course from international registrants with an interest in this specialty. 

Initially, the course was four weeks in length. It was changed to a three-week course in 2000.  The course has steadily grown in attendance to a point where it consistently has at least 70 registrants. Profits from the course originally were donated to the William Magrane Fund of the ACVO, and – more recently – the ACVO Vision for Animals Foundation (VAF). In addition, many speakers donate their honorarium.

Photos from the 2022 Basic Science Course