Introductory remarks by staff members at Ohio State University College of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, U.S. Naval Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, and Michigan State University explore the educational requirements of the health professions and the ways in which the computer can aid in fulfilling these requirements. Programs using computer assisted instruction (CAI) in preclinical education at Harvard, Ohio State, University of Oklahoma Medical Center, and the Naval Medical School are surveyed. The use of computers in clinical education is documented for the fields of patient interviewing, patient management, decision making, surgery, anesthetic gas exchange, opthalmology, and dentistry. The PLATO and DIAL systems, the PILOT program, and the PLANIT programing language are discussed with reference to their use in medical education. The editor provides an introduction and summary discussion of the use of CAI in general and its application to the health profession. (JY)