An expert systems approach to medical school admissions

Medical school applicants for 1994 to 1995 broke the record of 42,621 applicants set in 1974 to 1975 with a new record of 45,365 applicants. Applications for the next few years are projected to steadily increase. Currently most medical school admissions committees screen every application. With the rising numbers of applications received each year, this task will soon be unfeasible. Our goal was to develop a computer-based expert system with high sensitivity that could be used as a preliminary screening tool for applications. A screening tool with high sensitivity should allow well-qualified and borderline candidates to go on to be fully evaluated by the admissions committee. This article is a report of the program developed, the attributes used, their assigned values, case scenarios, and suggestions for further uses.