Today, the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) recognized Match Day for its 2024 Main Residency Match and released key results for educators, stakeholders, and policymakers focused on graduate medical education.
This year’s Match included 44,853 applicants who certified a rank order list (active applicants) and 41,503 certified positions in 6,395 residency training programs.
What is Match Day?
Match Day is an eagerly anticipated event when the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) unveils the results of residency and fellowship applications. Governed by the NRMP and accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), Match Day ensures a standardized process for pairing residency programs with qualified candidates.
Record High Applicant Participation
A total of 50,413 applicants registered in the 2024 Main Residency Match, an all-time high and an increase of 2,257 or 4.7 percent over last year. The rise in applicants was driven largely by an increase of 1,986 non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates (IMGs) and 623 osteopathic (DO) seniors over the last year.
Applicant Match Rates Remain Steady
Match rates remained steady among each of the four main applicant types with less than a one percentage point difference compared to the 2023 Main Residency Match.
- U.S. DO seniors achieved a 92.3 percent match rate, an all-time high, and an increase of 0.7 percentage points over last year. Since 2019, the DO senior match rate has increased by 4.2 percentage points.
- U.S. MD seniors realized a 93.5 percent match rate, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from last year. The U.S. MD senior match rate remains within the historic 92 – 95 percent range that has been steady since 1982.
- U.S. citizen IMGs realized a 67.0 percent match rate, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from last year.
- Non-U.S. citizen IMGs realized a 58.5 percent match rate, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points since last year.
Increased Program and Position Participation
The 2024 Main Residency Match included 6,395 certified programs offering 41,503 PGY-1 and PGY-2 training positions, the largest number in the NRMP’s 72-year history. Increases afforded applicants access to 125 more programs and 1,128 positions which is 2.8 percent more than the 2023 Main Residency Match.
- Of all positions offered, 38,941 filled for a rate of 93.8 percent, a 0.5 percentage point increase over last year.
- Of the 6,395 total certified programs, 5,608 filled at a rate of 87.7 percent, an increase of 1.1 percentage points over last year.
Fluctuation in Primary Care
Concerns remain about a shortage of primary care physicians across the U.S., and NRMP data offer insights into trends.
The 2024 Match offered 19,423 primary care positions, the largest number on record and 46.8 percent of all the positions offered in the Match.
There were 719 more primary care positions offered in 2024, and the fill rate for the specialties combined was 92.9 percent.
While strong, the primary care fill rated fell slightly in 2024 by 1.4 percentage points, largely due to changes in Pediatrics.
In the 2024 Match, Pediatrics offered 3,139 categorical and primary positions, an increase of 93 over 2023, and filled 2,887 resulting in a fill rate of 92 percent compared to 97.1 percent in 2023. After the algorithm was processed, 252 Pediatrics positions were unfilled, an increase of 164 over last year. Notably, the percentage of U.S. MD seniors that matched to Pediatrics categorical positions in 2024 was 47.6 percent, a decrease of 7.2 percentage points from last year.
Rebound in Emergency Medicine
After a two-year decline, Match data reflect a resurgence in Emergency Medicine fill rates. Emergency Medicine achieved its historically high fill rate of 98 – 99 percent in the 2017 – 2021 Matches. By 2023, the fill rate had dropped by 17.9 percentage points, driven in part by the strain the specialty experienced during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, Emergency Medicine offered 3,026 positions, an increase of 16 positions from 2023, and filled 2,891 to earn a 95.5 percent fill rate, an increase of 13.9 percentage points. There were 135 positions unfilled after the matching algorithm was processed compared to 554 unfilled positions in 2023.
Continued Strength in Obstetrics and Gynecology
The specialty had another very strong Match, even with the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision approaching this summer. Only six categorical positions remained unfilled after the matching algorithm was processed. OB/GYN achieved a 99.6 percent fill rate in the 2024 Match, continuing a strong trend of filling over 99 percent of positions offered every year for the past five years and filling at least 90 percent of positions with U.S. MD and DO seniors.
Specialty Highlights and Competitiveness
The results of the Match can indicate the competitiveness of specialties as measured by the percentage of positions filled overall and the percentage of positions filled by U.S. MD and DO seniors.
- The specialties with 30 positions or more that filled with the highest percentage of U.S. MD and DO seniors were Internal Medicine/Emergency Medicine (96.8 percent), Thoracic Surgery (95.8 percent), Otolaryngology (95.8 percent), Internal Medicine/Pediatrics (94.6 percent), Orthopedic Surgery (92.1 percent), Interventional Radiology – Integrated (91.4 percent), and Obstetrics and Gynecology (90.7 percent).
- The specialties with 30 positions or more that filled with the highest percentage of U.S. citizen IMGs and non-U.S. citizen IMGs were Internal Medicine (38.6 percent), Pathology – Anatomic and Clinical (37.4 percent), Family Medicine (31.8 percent), and Neurology (28.3 percent).