NRMP Releases Results and Data: 2015 Residency Match: Record Number of Positions Filled
Washington, DC (PRWEB) May 28, 2015 -- Today the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP®) released its Results and Data Book for the 2015 Main Residency Match®. A record-number 30,212 positions were placed in the Match, and 28,906 were filled when the matching algorithm was processed. Of the 1,306 positions that were unfilled, 1,129 filled during the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® (SOAP®) leading up to Match Day.
“We are pleased with the outcome of the 2015 Main Residency Match. A record 30,035 positions were filled, leaving just 177 positions available after Match Day. That translates into a position fill rate of 99.4 percent,” said NRMP President and CEO Mona M. Signer. “The Match continues to be successful, and that benefits the Match applicants and the residency programs we serve.”
View and download report and infographics
U.S. Allopathic Seniors
Of the 18,025 U.S. allopathic medical school seniors who submitted program preferences for the 2015 Match (active applicants), an all-time high of 16,932 matched to first-year positions , of which 78.4 percent matched to one of their top three choices for training.
Other Applicant Groups
Stand-out trends among other applicant types:
• An all-time high 2,949 U.S. osteopathic medical school students and graduates submitted program preferences in the Match, and 79.3 percent of those matched to first-year positions, the highest match rate in over thirty years.
• 53.1 percent of the 5,014 U.S. citizen international medical school students and graduates (IMGs) who submitted program preferences matched to first-year positions, the highest match rate since 2005.
• An all-time high 3,641 non-U.S. citizen IMGs who submitted program preferences matched to first-year positions.
Trends in Primary Care
The number of first-year positions offered in the Match increased by 615 over 2014, and nearly 60 percent of the growth was attributable to primary care (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics).
• 6,611 U.S. allopathic seniors matched in primary care, 39.0 percent of all seniors who matched to first-year positions.
• 1,260 U.S. osteopathic medical school students and graduates matched in primary care, 53.8 percent of all who matched to first-year positions.
• 4,237 U.S. and non-U.S. citizen IMGs matched in primary care, 67 percent of all IMGs who matched to first-year positions. The percentage of matched IMGs who obtained Internal Medicine positions has grown every year since 2011, from 37.5% to 43.9% in 2015.
Positions Filled During the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® (SOAP®)
During Match Week, unmatched and partially matched applicants may participate in the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) to try to obtain an unfilled residency position. Of the 1,306 positions that did not fill when the matching algorithm was processed, 1,193 were placed in SOAP and 1,129 were filled – 653 by U.S. allopathic seniors.
“There are many reasons why applicants don’t match,” said Signer. “Some overestimate their qualifications and apply only to very competitive specialties.” She added, “Some program directors are reluctant to rank applicants who have not passed the medical licensure qualifying examinations prior to the deadline for submitting their lists to NRMP, which also could hurt an applicant’s chances of obtaining a position.”
The NRMP Match
The Match uses a computerized mathematical algorithm to align the preferences of applicants with the preferences of program directors in order to fill training positions available at U.S. teaching hospitals. Research on the NRMP algorithm was a basis for awarding The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2012.
About NRMP
The National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) is a private, non-profit organization established in 1952 at the request of medical students to provide an orderly and fair mechanism for matching the preferences of applicants for U.S. residency positions with the preferences of residency program directors. In addition to the annual Main Residency Match® for more than 40,000 applicants, the NRMP conducts Fellowship Matches for more than 50 subspecialties through its Specialties Matching Service® (SMS®).
Diane Greenhalgh, National Resident Matching Program, http://www.nrmp.org/latest-news/press/, +1 202-499-5987, [email protected]
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