Match Day 2025 sees nearly 900 more primary care positions offered than last year
Key takeaways:
- A new high of 20,300 primary care positions have been offered this year.
- With 11,750, internal medicine had the highest positions offered among primary care specialties.
Soon-to-be medical school graduates received 877 more primary care position offers in the 2025 Main Residency Match compared with the previous year, according to the National Resident Matching Program, or NRMP.
A total of 20,300 positions were offered in primary care, a record-high number.
“This year’s Main Residency Match marks a milestone of continued success for the graduate medical education community as a record number of applicants and residency training programs matched,” NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN, said in a press release. “The NRMP continues to be a service that welcomes all who wish to participate, capably advocating for and supporting the aspirations of young physicians and the priorities of residency training programs to collectively address the varied heath needs of communities across the nation.”
Positions among primary care specialties combined had a fill rate of 93.5%, up from 92.2% in 2024.
Meanwhile, the program facilitated 43,237 positions offered across all specialties — up 4.2% from last year — that had a fill rate of 94.3%.
Internal medicine, pediatrics and family medicine offered 11,750, 3,193 and 5,357 positions, respectively. Pediatrics had a greater fill rate (95.3%) compared with last year, while this rate in family medicine (85%) declined.
NRMP also highlighted growth in emergency medicine, which offered 42 more positions than 2024 for a total of 3,068 positions.
MD seniors were the highest applicant type this year at 20,368 applicants, although NRMP reported 4.5% more DO seniors in this year’s match.
The influx of new residents comes as many health care specialties continue to face daunting workforce shortages. Healio recently reported on the latest primary care scorecard, which showed that the number of primary care clinicians dropped from 105.7 to 103.8 per 100,000 between 2021 and 2022.
References:
- National Resident Matching Program Releases the 2025 Main Residency Match Results, Celebrates the Next Generation of Physicians. Available at: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-resident-matching-program-releases-the-2025-main-residency-match-results-celebrates-the-next-generation-of-physicians-302408136.html. Published March 21, 2025. Accessed March 21, 2025.
- 2025 Main Residency Match By the Numbers. Available at: https://www.nrmp.org/match-data/2025/03/match-by-the-numbers-2025-main-residency-match/. Accessed March 21, 2025.