Doximity recently published a “Clinical Brief” summarizing stats from last month’s Match. Here are the take-home messages:
1) The good news: The Match had the most applicants ever and a strong 93.5% overall fill rate.
2) More good news: DOs and U.S. citizen IMGs saw record high Match rates at 93.2% and 70.0%, respectively.
3) Bad news: Despite 134 new positions, the Family Medicine (FM) fill rate dropped to 83.6%, leaving 899 slots unfilled. The NRMP is taking this seriously: It’s convening a Blue Ribbon Panel to look at why medical students aren’t choosing FM.
4) More bad news: Non-U.S. Citizen IMGs saw a 56.4% Match rate — a five-year low.
Of note, the two pieces of bad news are connected and potentially a big problem: IMGs historically fill a disproportionate number of FM and other primary care positions. If IMG Match rates and FM fill rates are both dropping, that’s an escalating problem for primary health care access, particularly in underserved regions.
