The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) said that the Main Residency Match on March 15 was the largest in NRMP's history, with the total number of Match registrants topping 40,000 for the first time and the total number of positions offered exceeding 29,000.
The group said that U.S. medical school seniors made up 16,390 of the 25,463 applicants who matched successfully to first-year residency positions. The growth was due to three new medical schools graduating their first classes, as well as enrollment expansions in existing schools, NRMP said.
This year's Match also included the following:
- 2,677 students and graduates of osteopathic (DO degree-granting) schools -- an increase of 317 over 2012, and up more than 600 over five years
- 5,095 U.S. citizen students/graduates of international medical schools (IMGs) -- 816 more than in 2012, and up more than 1,700 over five years
- 7,568 non-U.S. citizen students/graduates of international medical schools (IMGs) -- 740 more individuals than in 2012
U.S. seniors have a match rate that always exceeds 90% and are the most successful applicants in the Match, the group said. U.S. citizen IMGs and foreign-national IMGs saw their match rates grow by four and seven percentage points, respectively, and the overall match rate for applicants to first-year positions rose by one percentage point to 74.1%.
Among medical specialties, the total number of positions offered in the Match was 29,171, an increase of 2,399 over last year and also a record. The growth was due to a change in NRMP policy that required programs to register and fill all positions through the Match.
The specialty with the largest number of matches was internal medicine, with 3,135 U.S. seniors matching, an increase of 194 over last year. Next was pediatrics, with 1,837 seniors matching, an increase of 105, and emergency medicine, which offered 1,744 positions, up 76 from last year and filling all but three. Anesthesiology offered 1,653 spots, up 177 positions, and filled all but 62.
