Fierce Healthcare (03/19/24) Landi, Heather

Record-high numbers of applicants and residency positions were offered on this year's Match Day, March 15. According to the National Resident Matching Program, the 2024 Main Residency Match saw 44,853 applicants and 41,503 certified positions in 6,395 residency training programs. There were a record 50,413 applicants this year — a 4.7% increase from 2023, largely driven by an increase in non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates and osteopathic seniors. Nearly 45,000 registrants certified a rank order list of training preferences, a 4.4% increase from last year. Among those applicants, 35,984 matched to a post-graduate year 1 position, for a match rate of 80.2%. "The NRMP is proud to deliver the results of another successful Main Residency Match, and we congratulate all future physicians and training programs on this momentous occasion," said NRMP president and CEO Donna L. Lamb. "We are especially proud of applicants this year, many of whom began medical school the fall before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and had to quickly adapt to and thrive in a radically changed academic and training landscape." The top three most matched specialty programs are internal medicine, emergency medicine, and family medicine, with 38% matched into primary care specialties. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra celebrated Match Day at Howard University's College of Medicine, while other HHS officials joined medical schools across the country to recognize the day. "The more that we expand our health workforce and support our health workers, the healthier we will be as a nation. HHS is committed to recruiting, supporting, and promoting new opportunities for health workers to learn and expand their capabilities," said HHS Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm, who joined Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University's Match Day ceremony in Philadelphia.

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