At the present time there are 5 Independent Study Centers of The Foundation in the United States. Plans are in progress to establish a 6th center in the United States and possibly one center in Europe. No other professional society possesses such assets.
Each Independent Study Center is located at a facility provided by a participating Institutional Member of The Foundation, who serves as the Sponsor for the Center. Facilities are available at each Center to enable Members and Affiliate Members of The Foundation, who desire to study the specimens, histories, reference texts, videotutorials and autotutorials which are stored by the Registry of Study Materials of The Foundation, at the Center, to do so in comfort and privacy. Each Center has equipment available for the projection of 35 mm color transparencies, the viewing of VHS videotutorials, microscopes, photomicrography capabilities, and a library of reference textbooks. The materials are not permitted to be removed from the Center.
Each Center has a core of materials from the Registry of Study Materials, which are not in rotation in a Study Set of the Correspondence Division of The Foundation, deposited at the Center. Each Center has approximately 3000 accessioned cases, from the Registry of Study Materials, on file. However, the cases at any one Center are different from those of another Center. The Director of each Center has a catalog of all the cases on file at his/her Center, as well as a master catalog which shows the location of all other accessioned cases within the other Centers and the Correspondence Division of The Foundation. In addition, each Center has a large collection of the fascicles and videotutorials produced by the Training Aids Division of The Foundation. A variety of autotutorials, produced by The Foundation, are also available for study. Each Center also has non-foundation materials available for study. To examine all the materials available at a Center would require approximately 2 months in daily residence to review the majority of the material available at the Center. There is no charge for Members and Affiliate Members to use the materials at any one of the Centers. However, for reasons that have been set forth elsewhere in the Homepage, under the title of Benefits of Individual Membership, The Foundation is not able to perform any unsponsored services for any individuals who are not Members, Affiliate Members or Patrons of The Foundation.
No materials will be permitted to be removed or loaned for use away from the Centers. The reason for this restriction is that during the week of April 17, 1994, the Biologic Resources Laboratory of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the site of the Midwest Independent Study Center of The Foundation, opened its doors to over 50 individuals who were preparing for the board certification examination of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. The entire collection of study materials was available during normal business hours and attendees were permitted to check out material to study in their hotel rooms, copy material at no charge, and return to the facility after hours for group study sessions. Included in the collection was a unique resource which was designated as the ":Classic Cases Files". These were organized by species and consisted of a brief history, a description of the gross and microscopic pathology, and a discussion of the disease in terms of the management issues. This written material was supported by kodachromes and glass slides. A great deal of time and money was spent developing this "one of a kind" resource and in fact several of the cases represented in-house material which could not be replaced. It took over two years to put this material together and this was the first time that it had been available for general usage. Unfortunately, it was the last time that it was available. Some time during the latter part of the week of April 17th, someone removed the notebooks containing the rat and mouse cases and all of the material on the digestive and respiratory systems of primates. The notebook for the primate cases was left behind. The material removed included approximately 800 kodachromes, dozens of glass slides and the write ups. After this grievous loss of resources, the Advisory Board of The Foundation ruled that the study materials within the Independent Study Centers could only be used within the confines of the Centers
"They borrow books they would not buy,
They have no ethics or religion!
I wish some kind Burbankian guy,
Would cross my books with homing pigeons."
- Ogden Nash
Although there is no charge for Members and Affiliate Members to use the Independent Study Centers, the travel expenses to utilize this Foundation resource must be borne by the user. The Director of each Center will be happy to recommend economical hotels / motels and restraurants near their Center, and the official travel agent of The Foundation, as described elsewhere in this Homepage, can assist with your air travel if required.
The location of each Center is as follows:
NORTHEAST INDEPENDENT STUDY CENTER
Dr. Tracey S. McNamara, Director
Telephone: 1-718-220-7105
FAX: 1-718-220-7126
E-MAIL: TMCNAMARA.WCS/WCS@MCIMAIL. COM
Location:
Wildlife Health Sciences
Wildlife Conservation Society
The Bronx Zoo
185th Street & Southern Boulevard
Bronx, New York, 10460
In addition to its basic core of accessioned cases of the Registry of Study Materials of The Foundation and numerous videotutorials produced by The Foundation, the Center is the repository of the Director's personal collection of study and reference materials on the pathology of wildlife, zoo mammals and birds, and reptiles and amphibians.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA INDEPENDENT STUDY CENTER
Dr. Richard K. Harris,
Director
Telephone: 1-202-782-2600
FAX: 1-202-576-9150
E-MAIL: harris@email.afip.osd.mil
Location:
The Department of Veterinary Pathology
The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Washington D.C. 20306
In addition to its basic core of accessioned cases of the Registry of Study Materials of The Foundation and numerous videotutorials and fascicles produced by The Foundation, there are thousands of specimens of cases of animal diseases available for study at the Department of Veterinary Pathology of The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.
MIDWEST INDEPENDENT STUDY CENTER
Dr. B. Taylor Bennett, Director
Telephone: 1-312-996-7040
FAX: 1-312-996-8065
E-MAIL: BTaylor. Bennett@UIC.edu
Location:
Biologic Resources Laboratory
University of Illinois At Chicago
1840 West Taylor Street
Chicago, IL 60612
In addition to its basic core of accessioned cases of the Registry of Study Materials of The Foundation, and numerous videotutorials and fascicles produced by The Foundation, the Center is also the repository of the Director's personal collection of thousands of kodachromes and scores of microslides depicting the pathology of the diseases of laboratory animals. In addition the Center is the permanent repository of the C. N. Barron reprint collection. Dr. Barron was President of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists in 1965; Editor of PATHOLOGIA VETERINARIA from 1966 to 1971; a charter member of The Foundation's Faculty of Discussants; and a Life Member of the Advisory Board of The Foundation since its inception until his death on January 7, 1977. The collection consists of 4800 reprints of articles on the pathology of diseases of diverse species of animals, filed and cross referenced (on cards).
SOUTH CENTRAL INDEPENDENT STUDY CENTER
Dr. Charles A. Montgomery Jr., Director
Telephone: 713-798-4486
FAX: 713-798-6588
E-MAIL: cmontgom@bcm.tmc.edu
Location:
Center for Comparative Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
One Baylor Plaza
Houston, TX 77030
In addition to its basic core of accessioned cases of the Registry of Study Materials of The Foundation, and numerous videotutorials and fascicles produced by The Foundation, the Center is also the repository of the Director's personal collection of study and reference materials. During his more than 20 years of service as a veterinary pathologist in the Veterinary Corps of the U.S. Army, and subsequently in the United States Public Health Service, Dr. Montgomery collected an extensive array of stained tissue sections and 35 mm transparencies of pathologic entities in a diversity of animal species. He has placed this collection at the South Central Independent Study Center of The Foundation for the use of visitors to the Center.
WEST COAST INDEPENDENT STUDY CENTER
Dr. Kerry Mahoney, Director
Telephone: 619-694-2838
FAX: 619-571-4268
E-MAIL: mgcerf@cerfnet.com
Location:
Department of Pathology
San Diego County Veterinarian's Office
Building 4 (MS-055)
5555 Overland Avenue
San Diego, CA 92123
The Registry of Study Materials of The Foundation is presently building a core set of study materials to be placed at this Center. In the meantime the Center receives the monthly loan of a study set from the Correspondence Division of The Foundation. The Center does have numerous videotutorials and fascicles, which were published by The Foundation, on hand, as well as thousands of 35 mm color transparencies of diverse disease conditions in all species of animals. The Center is also the permanent repository of the collection of reference and study materials of Dr. Edwin Blake Howard (1930 - 1987), as well as the collection of study and reference materials of Dr. John G Simpson.
Dr. Howard was a Member of the Faculty of Discussants of The Foundation, a Member of The Advisory Board of The Foundation, an Honorary Trustee of The Foundation, an author or co-author of several Foundation fascicles, and until his death he served as the Program Director of the Southern California Division of The Foundation.
Dr. Simpson was a consultant to Sea World and the Naval Undersea Center of the United States Navy in San Diego, California. He is well experienced in the diseases of marine mammals and has served as co-author of two Foundation fascicles on the Diseases of Marine Mammals. Dr. Simpson has been a Member of The Foundation since the inception of the Southern California Division