The Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) is one of the olest optometry schools and throughout most of the 20th century has been a leader in both training and research. It was the first school in the United States to confer the Doctor of Optometry degree after a four-year educational program. It was the first of all the optometry schools to receive regional accreditation and the first to offer courses in contact lenses. PCO was the first to offer inter-disciplinary clinical training and have off-campus externship programs. It was also the first independent college of optometry to develop graduate programs in vision rehabilitation and affiliate with a medical school. It was also the first to revise its curriculum to integrate basic and clinical courses using a module approach; introducing clinical concepts, skills, and student’s presence early in the educational program rather than as an additional training after completion of basic studies.