IN 1964, the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairmen entered into a "Gentlemen's Agreement" concerning applications for first-year residency programs in pediatrics. The agreement, in effect, bound chairmen from making contractural agreements with applicants until Nov 15 for programs starting July 1 of the following year.
The aims of the agreement were the following: (1) to bring about a free and competitive, but orderly, choice between residency applicants and pediatric training centers; (2) to upgrade the internship, since training centers would have access to a meaningful evaluation of candidates' performances before deciding upon appointments; and (3) the long-term benefits accruing from the circumstance that residents had been free to accept programs of training which they considered to be the best obtainable. Ninety-five percent of those responsible for pediatric residency programs in medical schools agreed to abide by this commitment in 1965 to 1966.
The experience of this "Gentlemen's Agreement"