Selecting medical students

The selection of the doctors of tomorrow is a subject of constant interest because it raises questions about ensuring equity, predicting human behaviour, and defining the characteristics of a good doctor. In the United Kingdom, it costs about £200000 (€260000; $400000) to train each medical student, but the cost of getting the selection wrong is much greater. Selection takes place under considerable time pressure—in the UK around 19 000 applicants must be screened for some 8000 places in less than six months, and each applicant may apply to four medical schools. The selection ratio in the United States is remarkably similar—around 42% of 42000 applicants were successful in 2007, although each student made an average of 13 applications