Record number of primary care positions offered in 2023 Match Day

Key takeaways:

• There were 571 more primary care positions offered during the 2023 Main Residency Match than last year, an increase of 3.2%.
• The fill rate for primary care positions was 94.2% — consistent with last year.

A record-high number of positions in primary care were offered in the 2023 Main Residency Match, according to the National Resident Matching Program, or NRMP.

“We were excited to see the record number of primary care positions offered in this year’s Match and how the number of positions has consistently increased over the past 5 years, and most importantly, the fill rate for primary care has remained steady,” NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN, said in a press release.

Overall, 571 more primary care positions were offered compared with 2022, representing an increase of 3.2% over the last year and 17% over the last 5 years. Positions filled at a rate of 94.2%, consistent with 2022’s rate.

A total of 40,375 positions across all specialties were offered, an increase of 3% from 2022.

The specialties with 30 positions or more that filled with the highest percentage of MD and DO seniors included plastic surgery (92.3%); the combination of internal medicine and pediatrics, or med-peds (90.5%); OB/GYN (90.1%); and orthopedic surgery (90%).

According to the NRMP, the rise in the number of applicants registered in this year’s match was driven primarily by international medical graduates.

In an interview with AAFP, Margot Savoy, MD, MPH, FAAFP, an associate professor of family and community medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and a Healio Primary Care Peer Perspective Board member, highlighted the importance of continuing to fortify staffing in primary care.

“If you add 10 primary care doctors, particularly family physicians, to a community, we actually increase the life expectancy of the community by 250%,” she said. “Whenever I see more and more people choosing family medicine, I see people choosing to invest in the health of our country and in the health of our world.”

The increased number of primary care positions is particularly significant amid the growing burden of work force shortages in health care.

“We still have this shortage. That’s only going to continue to get worse,” Savoy said. “So, for us to meet that gap and to close that amount, we're going to need many, many more people choosing primary care and specifically family medicine as we go into the future.”

References:

• Match Day 2023 resource hub: AAFP celebrates the newest class of family medicine residents. https://www.aafp.org/news/media-center/kits/match-2023.html. Accessed March 17, 2023.
• NRMP celebrates Match Day by publishing the results of a record-breaking 2023 main residency match. https://www.nrmp.org/about/news/2023/03/nrmp-celebrates-match-day-by-publishing-the-results-of-a-record-breaking-2023-main-residency-match/. Published March 17, 2023.