Describes a social service position in an urban vision clinic that serves as a practicum site for optometric students and as a field placement site for social work students. Discusses health and financial benefits to patients and opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation of social service positions in holistic health care. (Author/JAC)

A computer-assisted curriculum evaluation effort at Pacific University assessed the extent to which the existing curriculum addressed the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry's (ASCO) recommendations, possible duplication of effort, and areas taught but not included in the ASCO models. (MSE)

A Southern California orientation program involves a new optometry student immediately by having the student see an actual clinic patient in a college clinic. The program gives students a feeling of belonging to the profession and also demonstrates the relevance of basic and visual sciences to practice. (Author/MSE)

The self-study process is seldom viewed as a central process of improvement and change. Experience at the Illinois College of Optometry, however, shows how the process can be regenerative to people and institutions. The process and its elements are outlined in some detail. (MSE)

An approach to teaching optometry combining didactic and problem-based teaching is described, highlighting course procedures that have evolved over a number of years. Problems are organized so students learn portions of required content, building a knowledge base while solving a succession of problems. Cases are usually presented and discussed in…

It is suggested that health professional schools are often dominated by the politics of the medical school, as has been the case in the health sciences at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Experiences of the fields of optometry, podiatry, and dentistry are offered as illustrations. (MSE)

The detrimental effect of evaluating college teachers with student ratings of their performance is illustrated. The author found that he could raise his ratings by reducing the quality of his teaching and concentrating on the improvement of morale among his optometry students at the University of California at Berkeley. (JMD)

An Illinois College of Optometry faculty development project focuses on improvement of classroom teaching methods. Topics that have been addressed to date include improving lecture skills, a lecture teaching lab, case-based laboratories, promoting student problem-solving in clinical situations, effective feedback and supervision, and the student…