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April 2003 Reporter Home

Record Number of Residency Positions Filled

Court Hears Arguments In NRMP Suit

WWAMI Still Going Strong

Transforming Scientific Research Into Better Health Care

Malpractice Woes Persist

Executive Council Sets Guidelines on Industry marketing to Residents

Author Q & A: The Making of an 'Iconoclast'

Viewpoint: Race and Genomics: A Challenge to Medical Educators

A Word from the President

"A Day in the Life of a Medical Student"

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AAMC Newsroom

Managing Editor
Scott Harris
sharris@aamc.org

Staff Writer
Elissa Fuchs
efuchs@aamc.org

Record Number of Residency Positions Filled in 2003 Match

Reversing a three-year downward trend, 23,965 active applicants participated in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) this year, up 506 from last year. Of these, 78.5 percent successfully matched into a record high number of first-year residency positions; this was accompanied by an all-time high in the total number of applicants successfully matched.

Although there were 17 fewer residency programs participating in this year's Match, the number of positions offered increased by 450, including an increase of over 300 first-year residency positions.

This year, the Match accommodated more PGY-1 positions than ever before, and the 78.5 percent overall match rate for applicants is almost 10 percent higher than it was five years ago.

As a subgroup, U.S. senior medical school students enjoyed the highest percentage of matches into first-year residency (PGY-1) positions with 93.2 percent of 14,332 students being matched. At 5,029, he number of non-U.S. citizen international medical graduate applicants increased by 10 percent over 2002, the first increase in five years for this group of applicants.

Of these, the 2,799 individuals who matched achieved the highest match rate ever for this group at 55.7 percent. And the number of osteopathic physicians participating in the Match reached an all-time high of 1,408, 70.7 percent of whom successfully obtained positions. The number of PGY-1 spots offered and filled for generalist positions such as family practice, internal medicine, and pediatrics experienced some variations from last year.

Internal medicine and pediatrics filled 95.1 percent and 93.8 percent, respectively, of their positions, with both specialties experiencing an increase over 2002. The 76.3 percent of family practice positions filled this year represents a slight decrease from 2002.

Specialties show increases

Other specialties that showed increases in their PGY-1 fill rates over last year include general surgery, up 4.6 percent to 99 percent; diagnostic radiology, up 3.1 percent to 97.8 percent; and pathology, up 6.4 percent to 90.1 percent. In pathology, US seniors filled 59.8 percent of the positions, up from 49.7 percent in 2002.

All specialties with second-year residency (PGY-2) positions in the Match experienced fill rates in excess of 90 percent, with anesthesiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, psychiatry, radiation oncology, and diagnostic radiology increasing their fill rates over last year.

There were 575 couples that participated in the Match this year, the highest number in the NRMP's history. A couple is defined as any two applicants who participate in the Match as partners. The 2003 match rate for couples was 93.9 percent, down slightly from 95.1 percent last year.

Mona Signer, director of the NRMP, says the rising number of first-year positions and their high match rate illustrate the efficacy of the Match.

"This year, the Match accommodated more PGY-1 positions than ever before, and the 78.5 percent overall match rate for applicants is almost 10 percent higher than it was five years ago," Signer said. She added that the 2,457 PGY-2 positions marked an all-time high, as did their 97 percent fill rate.

"The NRMP continues to be the best method for matching prospective residents with the programs of their choice as well as the most efficient tool for residency programs to fill their open positions with the students of their choice," Signer said.

- Barbara Gabriel