Appointment of preregistration house officers

A new programme to try and match the preferences of students and consultants in preregistration appointments has been designed after a survey of student opinion. It is based on five main principles: a standardized change-over date for posts; holding only one post in a teaching hospital; separate application for house physician and house surgeon appointments; application six months before the post becomes vacant; and two rounds for matching preferences.The programme has now been working successfully for a year and experience suggests that the ideal administrative size for it is that of a region or area health authority.