An Optometry Course on Quality Assurance

The Pennsylvania College of Optometry, in response to an increasing demand for accountability from many segments of society, has initiated a course for first‐year students on quality assurance. The course covers the concept of peer review, the principles of evaluating optometric care, the rationale of ambulatory records, and the concepts of optometric diagnosing and problem solving. We believe that the need to expose optometric students to basic quality‐assurance principles will increase with future third‐party payment programs and consumer‐rights movements.