Match Day 2024: Another record-high number of primary care positions offered

Key takeaways:

• There were 721 more primary care positions offered this year compared with 2023.
• The fill rate was 92.2%, down by 1.4 percentage points vs. 2023 due to changes in pediatrics.

A record number of positions in primary care were offered in the 2024 Main Residency Match, according to the National Resident Matching Program, or NRMP.

“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,” NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN, said in a press release. “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. Their experiences and success speak to a remarkable resilience and dedication they will carry with them into practice.”

There were 19,423 primary care positions offered, which was 46.8% of all positions offered. Overall, there were 721 more positions offered this year compared with 2023.

Positions among primary care specialties combined were filled at a rate of 92.2%, down by 1.4 percentage points from the previous year’s rate. The NRMP noted that this was due to changes in the pediatrics fill rate, which fell from 97.1% in 2023 to 92% this year.

A total of 41,503 positions across all specialties were offered — an increase of 2.8% from 2023 — and which filled at a rate of 93.8%.

Among the specialties with 30 positions or more that filled with the highest percentage of MD and DO seniors included:

• the combination of internal medicine and emergency medicine (96.8%);
• thoracic surgery (95.8%);
• otolaryngology (95.8%);
• the combination of internal medicine and pediatrics (94.6%);
• orthopedic surgery (92.1%);
• interventional radiology integrated (91.4%); and
• obstetrics and gynecology (90.7%).

Internal medicine was also the top specialty, with 30 positions or more filled with the highest percentage of U.S. citizen international medical graduates (IMG) and non-U.S. citizen IMGs at 38.6%.

Family medicine offered 5,231 positions, 124 more than last year, and will welcome 4,595 new residents.

“Understanding what our patients and communities need is what family physicians do best,” Margot Savoy, MD, MPH, FAAFP, American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) senior vice president of education, inclusiveness and physician well-being, said in a press release. “The AAFP welcomes all our new family physicians, and we are eager and excited to join them in their medical journey, support them where they need us and celebrate every milestone along the way.”

Editor’s note: Click here to read about some of the significant challenges facing primary care, including a workforce shortage, and the efforts being made to address them.

References:

• NRMP Celebrates Match Day for the 2024 Main Residency Match, Releases Results for Over 44,000 Applicants and Almost 6,400 Residency Programs. https://www.nrmp.org/about/news/2024/03/nrmp-celebrates-match-day-for-the-2024-main-residency-match-releases-results-for-over-44000-applicants-and-almost-6400-residency-programs/. Published March 15, 2024. Accessed March 15, 2024.
• A Day for Celebration: Largest Class of Residents Find Their Home in Family Medicine. https://www.aafp.org/news/media-center/releases/day-for-celebration.html. Published Mar. 15, 2024. Accessed March 15, 2024.