NRMP® Releases Charting Outcomes: Characteristics of Matched Applicants Reports

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Resident Matching Program^® (NRMP^®) has published its Charting Outcomes™: Characteristics of Applicants Who Match to Their Preferred Specialty reports. These reports examine how factors such as applicant preferences, medical licensure exam performance, research accomplishments, and other experiences affect Match outcomes in the Main Residency Match^®. In response to constituent feedback, the reports have been enhanced to include expanded applicant-type reporting and annual publication, improving transparency and the availability of workforce data.

Enhanced Reporting. For the first time, NRMP has produced four distinct Charting Outcomes™ reports. In prior years, a single report combined outcomes for both U.S. citizen and non-U.S. citizen students and graduates of international medical schools. By reporting these groups separately, NRMP provides more transparent, nuanced, and meaningful insights into Match outcomes. This enhanced approach enables applicants, advisors, medical schools, and other stakeholders to better understand specialty-specific trends and make more informed decisions based on the experiences of comparable applicant populations. The four applicant groups represented in the Charting Outcomes™ reports include:

• Senior students of U.S. MD medical schools (U.S. MD seniors)
• Senior students of U.S. DO medical schools (U.S. DO seniors)
• U.S. citizen students/graduates of international medical schools (U.S. IMGs)
• Non-U.S. citizen students/graduates of international medical schools (Non-U.S. IMGs)

Historically, Charting Outcomes™: Characteristics of Applicants Who Match to Their Preferred Specialty reports were published biennially. In response to feedback from applicants, advisors, medical schools, and specialty organizations seeking more timely data, NRMP will now publish the reports annually. This change provides stakeholders with more current information on applicant characteristics and Match outcomes, strengthening advising efforts and supporting informed decision-making throughout the residency application process.

New This Year. Through new direct partnerships with the USMLE and COMLEX-USA programs, NRMP now receives applicant score data directly from the source. These collaborations improve data accuracy and further strengthen the reliability of the Charting Outcomes™ reports and other NRMP publications.

Interactive Reports. The interactive Charting Outcomes™: Characteristics of Applicants who Match to Their Preferred Specialty reports are built using data visualization software and draw from the same data sources as the Charting Outcomes™ PDF reports. The dashboard presents data from the past five Match cycles and provides users with clearer, more meaningful views of applicant characteristics.

In addition, explore NRMP's Match Data for reports filtered by topics such as applicant demographics, application and recruitment, applicant type, fellowship outcomes, and residency outcomes.

About NRMP

The National Resident Matching Program^® (NRMP^®) is a private, non-profit organization established in 1953 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^® that facilitates placement for more than 50,000 registrants, the NRMP conducts Fellowship Matches through its Specialties Matching Service^® (SMS^®). The first SMS Fellowship Match was conducted in 1984 for Colon and Rectal Surgery. Since that time, the SMS has grown to encompass 22 separate Matches representing almost 90 subspecialties. The NRMP website provides a list of participating SMS Fellowship Matches, each including a summary statement, length of training, and applicant eligibility criteria.

For additional information or to schedule an interview with NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN, contact [email protected]. 

SOURCE National Resident Matching Program