Pre-registration house appointments: a computer aided allocation scheme

The number of pre-registration house posts allocated by the London Hospital rapidly increased in 1973. This made solution by hand of the allocation problem time consuming and complex. The Operational Research Unit was approahced and a computer aided scheme was designed which was subsequently adopted. Various alternative allocation methods are discussed and examples given. The results of the first five allocations are presented. The percentage of applicants obtaining one of their first three choices varied from 61 to 70%. Of consultants who expressed a choice, the percentage obtaining one of their first three choices was in the range of 72-94%. The allocation scheme has two principal advantages over methods used elsewhere. It is extremely flexible, allowing various weights to be given to either applicant or consultant. It also produces a complete solution which is optimal in terms of the numerical criteria specified. Details of the assignment algorithm are given in the Appendix.