The spring ritual known in medical circles as Match Day occurred last week across the country. Like the above normal temperatures the nation is experiencing, the match program reached a new record: more than 95 percent of U.S. medical school seniors matched to residency positions – the highest rate in three decades.
The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) reported Friday that 15,712 U.S. medical school seniors out of 16,527 applying were matched to residency positions. A total of 31,355 applicants sought residency positions. Nearly 23,000 of those applicants found a match.
New to the match program this year is the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP), which NRMP and the Association of American Medical Colleges developed to replace the so-called “Scramble” – a period during Match Week in which unmatched applicants rush to contact programs with unfilled residency positions. SOAP streamlines the process through automation.
Of the 1,246 unfilled positions available, through the SOAP process, 1,131 positions were filled, leaving 152 positions unfilled after three offer rounds.
Data from this year’s match revealed that dermatology, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, radiation oncology, thoracic surgery and vascular surgery were the most competitive fields.
The number of available residency positions increased the most in internal medicine, anesthesiology and emergency medicine, said a NRMP press release. Family medicine only had a 1.1 percent increase in available positions.
[See also: Match program sees more students going into family medicine.]
Follow HFN associate editor Stephanie Bouchard on Twitter @SBouchardHFN.