Dear Foundation members and supporters, Those of you who are mentoring the next generation of pathologists in training programs will soon notice that tuition for three of our "big four" courses (Descriptive, CLIIC [formerly the gross course], and POLA) has increased compared to 2020 and 2021. We wanted to make sure that everyone understands exactly why this is the case. Prior to the pandemic, tuition for these courses was at about $650. This helped to defray the significant costs related to speaker travel, lodging, and meals, as well as things like facility rental, coffee and snacks for breaks, and fees associated with applying for RACE credits. In addition, these courses provided the bulk of funding for our mission in areas of the world that have fewer economic resources. When travel shut down world-wide, we quickly pivoted to a virtual platform, and have provided hundreds of hours of free or low-cost virtual CE via Zoom as well as put up many years' worth of outstanding free material on our YouTube channel. We also overhauled our entire website and enhanced free tools like Noah's Arkive and scanned slides, all of which requires greatly increased server space and cloud storage. Needless to say, all of this adds up to a significant commitment of resources from the Foundation. This year, we are moving to a hybrid format for these three courses, because while we firmly believe that the in-person experience is very valuable, we also understand that not everyone will be able to travel, for various reasons. This means that we will have all the expenses of an in-person course, plus all the expenses and challenge of a virtual course. But, hey, you're worth it! It seemed unfair to us to put all these expenses only onto those who are attending in-person, so we decided to spread it out. The result is that even for in-person attendees, tuition is still $100 lower than it was pre-pandemic! A bargain for sure for the many (and believe me, I mean MANY) hours that our dedicated lecturers and course directors put into making these courses so great. In closing, we want to offer a gentle reminder that the Foundation is a registered non-profit organization that is 100% volunteer driven, and 100% of the revenue generated by these courses pays for our mission globally. Thank you for your continued support as we grow, adapt, and work tirelessly to make high quality veterinary and comparative pathology education available for all. Be sure to check the website events calendar frequently and follow us on social media for timely updates on upcoming in-person and virtual courses, day seminars, and lectures, and follow the blog and the newsletter for more in-depth news about Foundation activities. Yours in service, Jey Koehler, President Paco Uzal, CEO Bruce Williams, CFO Jey Koehler, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVP Auburn University Department of Pathobiology President, Davis-Thompson Foundation www.davisthompsonfoundation.org<http://www.davisthompsonfoundation.org/> [cid:image001.png@01D84A93.70E28150]
