NRMP® Specialties Matching Service® Matched Nearly 12,000 Applicants into Fellowship Programs for the 2024 Appointment Year

NRMP's latest Fellowship Match Data Book highlights continued growth of the Match, as four new subspecialties joined the SMS^® 

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Resident Matching Program^® (NRMP^®) has released a new data report, the Results and Data Specialties Matching Service^®, 2024 Appointment Year, for Fellowship Matches in the Specialties Matching Service^® (SMS^®). The report shows that 14,034 active applicants submitted a rank order list of programs, competing for 14,169 fellowship positions in 6,116 programs. Of those applicants, 11,853 were matched to a fellowship position, an increase of 305 active applicants from the 2023 appointment year.  

"The NRMP continues its long tradition of successfully facilitating the growth and diversification of the physician workforce," said NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN. "As the numbers of applicants pursuing fellowships increases, along with the growth among subspecialties offering training opportunities through the NRMP, we remain committed to sharing Match outcomes and examining how growth of fellowship opportunities impacts communities and patient access to specialized care." 

The number of specialty programs participating in SMS increased with the addition of four new subspecialties: Cancer Rehabilitation, Clinical Neurophysiology, Epilepsy, and Forensic Pathology. In total, the SMS provided matching services for 77 subspecialties in 22 separate Matches. Additional key highlights from the report include: 

Program Highlights: 

• Of the 14,169 positions offered, 83.7 percent were filled.
• Of the 6,116 programs that submitted certified rank order lists, 4,579 (74.9 percent) filled all their positions.

Specialty Highlights: 

• Of the 77 participating subspecialties, 29 filled 90 percent or more of the positions offered.
• The five specialties with the highest percentages of positions filled by U.S. MD graduates include Gynecologic Oncology (90.0%), Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (90.0%), Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (86.2%), Reproductive Endocrinology (85.5%) and Maternal-Fetal Medicine (85.4%).
• The five specialties with the highest percentages of positions filled by U.S. DO graduates include Brain Injury Medicine (46.2%), Sports Medicine (37.5%), Emergency Medical Services (33.7%), Forensic Pathology (33.3%), and Pain Medicine (27.1%).
• The five specialties with the highest percentages of positions filled by U.S. citizen graduates of international medical schools are Pulmonary Disease (48.3%), Interventional Pulmonology (23.3%), Critical Care Medicine (22.3%), Addiction Psychiatry (22.2%), and Nephrology (21.5%).
• The five specialties with the highest percentages of positions filled by non-U.S. citizen graduates of international medical schools are Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism (37.7%), Nephrology (36.4%), Medical Genetics (33.3%), Interventional Pulmonology (32.6%), and Rheumatology (31.5%).

Applicant Highlights: 

• The number of applicants matched for the 2024 appointment year increased for all applicant types compared to 2023.
  • The number of U.S. MD graduates matched was 6,667, an increase of 110 applicants from the 2023 appointment year.
  • Among U.S. DO graduates, 1,807 matched, an increase of 69 from the 2023 appointment year.
  • The number of matched U.S. citizen graduates of international medical schools was 1,262, an increase of 43 from the 2023 appointment year.
  • The number who matched among non-U.S. citizen graduates of international medical schools was 2,062, an increase of 70 applicants from the 2023 appointment year.
• Between 2020 and 2024, the number of active applicants (those submitting a certified rank order list of programs) rose 16.5 percent from 12,042 to 14,034. During the same period, U.S. MD graduates had the largest increase in number (835) followed by U.S. DO graduates (602).

About NRMP^® Specialties Matching Service^®
The Results and Data Specialties Matching Service^®, 2024 Appointment Year, is published by the NRMP. The NRMP Specialties Matching Service^® (SMS^®) conducts Matches for advanced residency and fellowship positions. The first Fellowship Match was conducted in 1984 for Colon and Rectal Surgery. Fellowship Matches occur throughout the year, and positions generally begin in July of the appointment year. Because Fellowship Match appointments may begin anywhere from 6 to 14 months after their Match Days, data are reported for the appointment year instead of the Match year. The 2024 report is for Matches conducted in 2023 and early 2024 for appointments beginning in July 2024. A complete list of all the subspecialties participating in the SMS for the 2024 appointment year can be found in the full data report. View full data report and infographic here.

About NRMP
The National Resident Matching Program^® (NRMP^®) is a private, non-profit organization established in 1953 to provide an orderly and fair mechanism for matching the preferences of applicants for U.S. residency and fellowship positions with the preferences of clinical program directors. The NRMP conducts the annual Main Residency Match^® for more than 48,000 registrants and the Specialties Matching Services for more than 70 subspecialty Fellowship Matches. 

CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE National Resident Matching Program