CHICAGO -- Applications to the nation's medical schools fell 3.7 percent in 2000 in the fourth straight year of decline.

Attractive jobs in dot-coms and information technology, along with the prospect of big medical school debts, may be among the reasons for the decline, said Barbara Barzansky, secretary of the American Medical Association's medical education council and author of the report.

Add the increased paperwork, regulations and concerns that have come with managed care and, she said, "it's not as friendly an environment as it used to be."

The decline appears to be leveling off; it was 6 percent in 1999.

The applicant pool last year totaled 37,092. It included 17,274 women, a 0.9 percent drop from 1999, the report found. The number of minorities climbed 2 percent to 4,266.

Despite the drop in applicants, "there are still more than twice as many applicants as there are places" for them, said Dr. Jordan Cohen, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges.