This guide is intended to help those responsible for choosing health care trainees to develop and improve their selection procedures. Special reference is given to health workers in maternal and child health. Chapter 1 deals with health care policy implications for selection of trainees, the different functions of selection and conflicts that might affect selection mechanisms. Suggestions are offered in the next chapter to translate selection policies into action. Study of the situation, political factors, public service regulations, health manpower policies, and development of a strategy are considered. Chapter 3 examines the types of information needed for making selection decisions, discusses the methods for obtaining it, and considers the strengths and weaknesses of using such information in identifying suitable candidates for training. Recommendations are made in chapter 4 for improving the use of selection methods, including examination results, standardized tests of academic achievement, intelligence tests, interviews, observations, as well as recommendations and references. The final chapter describes a feedback system to monitor selection. Six case studies are included throughout the guide to describe how different countries have attempted to solve selection problems. (YLB)