Teaching Medical Students to Make Rational Decisions

For several years the Department of Biophysical Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo has given a course in which instruction in decision analysis. as applied to medical practice, is interspersed with instruction in biophysical, diagnostic. and therapeutic methods. To the best of our knowledge this course in clinical biophysics is the first of its kind in the U.S.. and may be the first of its kind in the world. This article describes the course. Our experience is that the course is most effective when offered in the senior year of premedical undergraduate studies or in the sophomore year of medical school.