Match results highlight future of medicine

March 19, 2019
Credentialing Resource Center Digest
A record number of medical school students and graduates applied for residency positions this year, according to the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). More than 38,000 applicants competed for 35,185 positions. The number of first-year positions also hit a new record of 32,194, almost 2,000 more than last year. One of the reasons for the increase in positions was osteopathic programs joining the Main Residency Match as part of their transition to ACGME accreditation, states the NRMP.
 
Last week marked what medical school students and residency prgorams refer to as "Match Day." This is the day allopathic medical students find out into which residency training program they have been accepted. Results from the Match speak to trends in the future of medicine.
 
Nearly half of first-year positions offered this year were in primary care specialties. About 96% of those positions were filled during the Match. Family Medicine programs offered 4,107 positions, 39% of which were filled with U.S. allopathic seniors. 
 
Other specialty highlights include:
  • Emergency Medicine programs offered 2,488 first-year positions, about 200 more than in 2018. Since 2015, the number of Emergency Medicine positions has increased by 667.
  • Psychiatry programs offered 1,740 positions. Since 2015, the number of Psychiatry positions has increased by 387.
  • Radiation-Oncology advanced programs offered 192 positions, 15 more than in 2018, but filled only 163. In prior years, only a handful of positions were unfilled. 
  • Anesthesiology offered 84 more positions than in 2018. 
  • Obstetrics-Gynecology offered 59 more positions than in 2018. 
  • Neurology offered 65 more positions than in 2018. 
 
Source: NRMP
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