Teaching pathology residents to evaluate the quality of laboratory testing

In-house reviews of laboratory quality have become an important component of efforts to preserve the caliber and breadth of laboratory services in the face of contracting budgets. We describe a training rotation in quality assessment that provides pathology residents with the skills necessary to systematically investigate the quality of laboratory testing. The rotation has been of mutual benefit to our residents and our institution, serving as an introduction to a variety of analytic techniques and as a mechanism for documenting and improving the performance and efficiency of our hospital laboratory.