Friday March 15 was Resident Match Day in the US. An all-time high 50,413 applicants registered in the 2024 Main Resident Match, 4.7% higher than for the 2023 Match. The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) reported that the surge was driven largely by an increase in non-US citizen international medical graduates and osteopathic seniors, although the match rates remained steady among these applicants. The number of certified residents also set a record at 44,853, or 4.4% more than last year.
The Match included 6,395 certified programs, offering 41,503 PGY-1 and PGY-2 training positions. The fill rate for all positions was 93.8% (38,941), and 87.7% (5,608) for all certified programs.
Surgery Specialties Remain Very Competitive
Match data show that residencies in the surgical specialties are highly desirable, with fill rates of at least 99%.
Among the areas with lower fill rates were Family Medicine (87.8%, 636 unfilled positions), Pediatrics (91.8%, 251 unfilled positions), and Internal Medicine (95.2%, 494 unfilled positions).
Available General Surgery Positions Continue to Rise
The number of general surgery positions available has been rising steadily over the years, increasing 12% from just 5 years ago. In 2020, 1,536 slots were offered, compared with 1,569 in 2021, 1,622 in 2022, 1670 in 2023, and 1,717 this year.
Despite these increases, future access to quality surgical care remains uncertain. “We are moving in the right direction, but the current number of available positions may not be adequate given our projections for the number of patients who will require surgical care in the coming years,” said ACS Regent Kenneth W. Sharp, MD, FACS, professor of surgery and vice chair for faculty promotion and development at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
The feeling was echoed by Tyler G. Hughes, MD, FACS, dean of the University of Kansas School of Medicine–Salina: “Although I’m happy that surgery is a desirable field, workforce problems remain and need to be studied. For example, we’re seeing more and more applicants to medical school, but unless we have a fundamental change in residency positions, we’re going to see medical students who can’t find a job after they graduate.”
An expanded story on the 2024 Resident Match and implications for the future will be included in the June issue of the Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons.
