ABSTRACT
In the 1970s, coincidental with the advent of the personal computer, there arrived a time of consideration of educational technique in U.S. medical education. ‡ere was a voiced appeal for new medical schools, which gained support. At that time, a change was made so that all medical schools and all medical students would be exposed to a similar education method and content. A national standard was contemplated and was opened to any medical school graduate in the world whose education met measured standards. ‡e change from written essay questions was founded on the utility of multiple choice questions, which allowed automated grading and methods of comparison of tested schools and classes. ‡e subjectivity of the written test was gone. ‡e content of the doctor of medicine (MD) degree would be overviewed and critiqued as allowed by this new testing method. ‡e essay test, so revered for its required literary skills and unprompted answers, died a quick and sudden death in undergraduate and graduate medical education.
