More than 42,000 medical school students who applied for residency positions learned their fate Friday. According to the National Resident Matching Program, the 2016 Main Residency Match Day was the largest on record.
Main Residency Match is a system though which medical school students in the United States and abroad obtain residency positions in U.S.-accredited training programs. Match Day is considered a rite of passage for many future physicians.
Highlighted below are 10 things to know about the results of NRMP's 2016 Match Day.
1. All total, the 2016 Main Residency Match included 42,370 registered applicants and 30,750 positions. Applicants who did not match to a residency position participated in the NRMP Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program, during which NRMP makes available the locations of unfilled positions so that unmatched applicants can apply for them.
2. The number of American allopathic medical school senior students grew by 221 in 2016 to 18,668, a 10.6 percent increase since 2012. The number of available first-year positions rose by 567, to a total of 27,860.
3. Of the 27,860 first-year positions, 13,744 were in primary care specialties. Since 2012, the number of primary care positions has grown by 22.4 percent, to 2,512.
4. Internal medicine programs offered 7,024 positions, 254 more than in 2015. Of those, 6,938 (98.8 percent) of the positions were filled, and 3,291 (46.9 percent) were filled with U.S. seniors.
5. The number of family medicine programs increased from 2015 as well, from 3,195 positions to 3,238 positions. Of those, 3,083 (95.2 percent) were filled, and 1,467 (45.3 percent) were filled with U.S. seniors.
6. Pediatrics programs offered 2,689 positions, 21 more than in 2015. All total. 2,675 (99.5 percent) were filled, and 1,829 (68 percent) were filled with U.S. seniors.
7. Emergency medicine offered 1,895 first-year positions, an increase of 74, and filled all but one.
8. Specialties that filled all available first-year positions in 2016 include dermatology, orthopedic surgery, radiation-oncology and vascular surgery.
9. Specialties that had fewer than five unfilled first-year positions include neurological surgery, otolaryngology, general surgery and integrated plastic surgery.
10. A record-high of 1,046 couples participated in the 2016 Match, 11 more than last year. Of the couples who participated, 95.7 percent matched to first-year positions, the highest on record with the NRMP.
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