AAMC Reporter: April 2006

Trends Continue with Match Day 2006

Tulane University School of Medicine student Sudah Kailas celebrates her new residency position with her mom Heather Hervey-Jumper of The Ohio State University School of Medicine and her husband Shawn (left) learn that they will perform their residencies in Michigan - Photo credit: Ianna Shively, Shevely Photography

On March 16, thousands of medical students around the country celebrated their entry into residency programs on "Match Day" 2006. According to the National Resident Match Program (NRMP), which administers the match, several previous trends in medical student specialization choices and the backgrounds of the students themselves continued this year.

More than 93 percent of the 15,008 U.S. medical school seniors matched with a first-year residency program. Of those students, 85 percent matched to one of their top three program choices. The number of U.S. seniors was a record high for the match.

"It's exciting when you consider that on Match Day, 15,000 medical students across the country are finding out their residency locations at the same time," said NRMP President Susan Kline, M.D. "And for physicians who have already been through the match, it's thrilling to attend the ceremonies and relive the excitement of our own match experience."

Match results shed light on the professional interests of graduating students. Some of the most popular specializations continue to be the so-called lifestyle positions, which offer greater stability in work hours and demands. Two of these specialties enjoying great popularity in 2006 are dermatology and anesthesiology, which saw 100 percent and 97 percent of their available first-year residency positions filled, respectively, according to NRMP data.

Another trend in specializations is the increasing interest in obstetrics/gynecology (OB/GYN) residencies, 98 percent of which were filled this year, with 72 percent filled by U.S. medical school seniors. Predictions of a plateau or downward trending in this area due to a growing number of malpractice lawsuits against OB/GYN practitioners did not materialize.

"For all the talk of a malpractice crisis, we are on an upward trend with OB/GYN positions," said NRMP Executive Director Mona Signer.

Other competitive specialties in the match are surgery — which this year filled all but one of its positions — orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, radiology, radiation oncology, and otolaryngology. All of those specialties filled more than 95 percent of their positions and filled at least three-quarters of them with U.S. seniors.

In addition to being one of the most popular specialties, otolaryngology is also new to the match program in 2006.

At the University of Minnesota Medical School, Elsie Weiler, husband A.R., and their children - Photo credit: Scott Streble Kimberly Howard, Wendi Ruggeri, Melissa Gee and Alma Lopez at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA - Photo credit: UCLA/Reed Hutchinson

Signer noted that primary care specialties displayed strong numbers. Internal medicine and pediatrics filled 98 percent and 97 percent of the positions, respectively. Family practice, which had been declining for several years, filled more positions this year than last and filled more of them with U.S. seniors.

Overall, Signer said, there are no major changes or surprises in the NRMP data on specializations.

"I don't really see any changes in trends," Signer said. "The same specialties that have been competitive in the past remain competitive."

The match data did indicate, however, a considerable increase in international medical graduates, in both U.S. citizens who attended a non-U.S. medical school and in non-U.S. citizens who attended school abroad and applied to a residency program in the United States. The number of applicants in these two subgroups rose by 16 percent. Signer speculated that international medical graduates' (IMGs) applications are rebounding after a decline when the clinical skills assessment became a requirement for IMGs in 1998.

"Many are growing accustomed to the clinical skills exam, and more and more are passing it, creating a growing group of applicants who re-enter the match if they don't obtain positions their first time out," Signer said.

On another front, the decision to dismiss a lawsuit against NRMP, six other organizations and 29 teaching hospitals — "Paul Jung, M.D., et al. v. Association of American Medical Colleges, et al." — is now being appealed by the plaintiffs, with oral arguments set for April 6 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The plaintiffs earlier moved that the trial judge reconsider the suit's dismissal in 2004, but U.S. District Court Judge Paul Friedman denied that motion. The plaintiffs allege that the NRMP is part of a conspiracy to violate federal antitrust laws. In April 2004, Congress passed legislation to clarify that the NRMP does not violate antitrust law.

— By Scott Harris

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