NRMP releases the 2022 Main Residency Match Results and Data publication, the most comprehensive data resource for the Main Residency Match®

Report shows that the 2022 Main Residency Match was the largest in NRMP's 70-year history with 39,205 positions offered and 36,943 positions filled.

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) has published its 2022 Main Residency Match Results and Data report, the premier data resource for the Main Residency Match. The report documents matches by specialty and applicant type, trends in applicant match rates, applicant preferred specialty, and the Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® (SOAP®).

"In our 70^th year of matching, we were excited to see the high PGY-1 match rates among each applicant type, especially the record high rate for U.S. DO seniors," said NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN. "We also saw percent increases in U.S. MD and DO seniors matching to their top choices for training compared to 2021."

The 2022 Main Residency Match included an all-time high 39,205 total positions. Of those, 36,277 were PGY-1 positions, also a record high and the 19^th consecutive annual increase in the number of PGY-1 positions offered in the Match. There were 1,083 more PGY-1 positions offered compared to 2021, and more than half the increase was attributable to growth in Family Medicine and Internal Medicine.

After the matching algorithm was processed, 2,262 of the 39,205 total positions were unfilled. Of the 2,262 positions offered through the SOAP, 2,111 positions were filled. Only 151 SOAP-offered positions remained unfilled after SOAP, resulting in an overall fill rate of 99.6 percent.

The 2022 Main Residency Match had 47,675 registrants, 1,025 fewer than 2021 and the first year since 2003 in which the number of registrants decreased compared to the previous year. The Match included 42,549 active applicants, those who submitted certified rank order lists of programs. Applicant highlights in the 2022 Match include:

• The number of active U.S. MD senior (36 more) and U.S. DO senior (202 more) applicants were both all-time highs. The PGY-1 match rate for U.S. MD seniors was 92.9 percent. The PGY-1 match rate for U.S. DO seniors was 91.3 percent, the highest on record.
• The number of active U.S. citizen international medical graduates (IMGs) (247 fewer) and non-U.S. citizen IMGs (79 fewer) declined, sending match rates up among these applicant types: U.S. citizen IMGs obtained a 61.4 percent match rate, an increase of 1.9 percentage points from 2021, and non-U.S. citizen IMGs obtained a 58.1 percent match rate, an increase of 3.3 percentage points.
• Of the U.S. MD seniors who matched, 74.5 percent matched to one of their top three choices, an increase of 2.2 percentage points.
• Of the U.S. DO seniors who matched, 76.7 percent matched to one of their top three choices, an increase of 4.5 percentage points.
• The number of individuals participating in the Match as couples was 2,444, 4 fewer than 2021. The PGY-1 match rate for individuals participating as a couple was 93.7 percent.

Other Notable Trends

• The ratio of PGY-1 positions per total active applicant was .83. The ratio of PGY-1 positions per active U.S. senior (MD and DO) was 1.33.
• Primary care specialties offered record-high numbers of positions and had high position fill rates:
• There were 9,380 Internal Medicine (categorical) positions offered, the highest number on record. Of the positions offered, 8,915 were filled for a match rate of 95.0 percent. Match rates for U.S. citizen and non-U.S. citizen IMGs were the highest for Internal Medicine, accounting for 38.0 percent of available positions.
• Family Medicine offered 4,916 positions, the highest number since 1992, and 4,451 were filled for a match rate of 90.5 percent. Of the positions offered, a record number (1,494) were filled by U.S. DO seniors accounting for 30.4 percent.  
• There were 2,942 Pediatric (categorical) positions offered in the 2022 Main Match, an all-time high. The specialty had an overall fill rate of 97.2 percent. Of positions offered, 56.5 percent were filled by U.S. MD seniors and 19.7 percent were filled by U.S. DO seniors.  
• The number of Emergency Medicine positions has grown every year since 1983. This year, 2,921 positions were offered of which 2,702 were filled for a 92.5 percent fill rate, a decline of 7 percentage points from 2021. Of the total positions offered, 54.5 percent were filled by U.S. MD seniors and 25.8 percent were filled by U.S. DO seniors.

View and download the 2022 Main Residency Match Results and Data report.

For applicants, the Main Residency Match process begins in the fall during the final year of medical school, when they apply to the residency programs of their choice. Throughout the fall and early winter, applicants interview with programs. From February to early March, applicants and program directors rank each other in order of true preference and submit the rank order lists to NRMP, which processes them using a computerized mathematical algorithm to match applicants with programs. Research on the NRMP algorithm was a basis for awarding The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2012.

The National Resident Matching Program^® (NRMP^®) is a private, non-profit organization established in 1952 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^® for more than 47,000 registrants, the NRMP also conducts Fellowship Matches for more than 70 subspecialties through its Specialties Matching Service^® (SMS^®).

To schedule an interview with NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, contact [email protected].

SOURCE National Resident Matching Program