NRMP 2017 Main Residency Match Report Shows Record-High 31,554 Positions Filled

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May 01, 2017, 16:21 ET

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) has released the Results and Data Book for the 2017 Main Residency Match®, the system through which U.S. and international medical school students and graduates obtain residency positions in United States teaching institutions. The Match included a record-high 43,157 registered applicants and 31,757 positions. When the matching algorithm was processed 30,478 positions were filled, and of the 1,177 positions offered through the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® (SOAP®), 1,076 were filled. Only 203 positions remained unfilled at the conclusion of SOAP, resulting in an overall fill rate of 99.4 percent.

Other Highlights

Although the number of Match registrants was the most ever, the increase was due primarily to growth in U.S. allopathic medical school seniors (increase of 362) and students/graduates of U.S. osteopathic medical schools (increase of 722).
The number of U.S. citizen and non-U.S. citizen international medical school students and graduates (IMGs) who submitted program choices declined; however, their match rates of 54.8% and 52.4% respectively were the highest in more than a decade.
In the six years since implementation of the All In Policy in 2013, the primary care specialties of Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and Pediatrics have added a combined 2,900 positions, a 25.8 percent increase.
Since 2012, the number of U.S. allopathic seniors matching to Family Medicine has increased every year from 1,322 to 1,513.

"The Main Residency Match continues to be the primary vehicle for furthering the careers of young physicians," said NRMP President and CEO Mona M. Signer. "We are delighted at the continued growth and success of our Matching Program."

The Results and Data Book is widely recognized as the most comprehensive data and analysis resource about the Main Residency Match. The report documents matches by specialty and applicant type, applicant preferred specialty, trends in specialty competitiveness, and positions per active applicant.

View and download the report, Match by the Numbers, and infographics

View Match Week press release highlighting other notable results and trends

The Match Process
The Main Residency Match process begins in the fall for applicants, usually during the final year of medical school, when they send applications to the residency programs of their choice. Throughout the fall and early winter, applicants interview with programs. From mid-January to late February, applicants and program directors rank each other in order of preference and submit the preference lists to NRMP, which processes them using a computerized mathematical algorithm to match applicants with programs. Research on the NRMP algorithm was a basis for awarding The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2012.

About NRMP
The National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) is a private, non-profit organization established in 1952 at the request of medical students to provide an orderly and fair mechanism for matching the preferences of applicants for U.S. residency positions with the preferences of residency program directors. In addition to the annual Main Residency Match® for more than 43,000 registrants, the NRMP conducts Fellowship Matches for more than 60 subspecialties through its Specialties Matching Service® (SMS®).

Contact:
Diane Greenhalgh
202-499-5987
[email protected]

SOURCE National Resident Matching Program