The pediatrics specialty filled 97.6% of its offered positions, according to the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). Of these, 60.2% were filled by U.S. seniors, which was down from last year’s 63.1%.
Pediatrics brought 2,847 first-year positions to the 2019 Main Resident Match day, up from 2,768 in 2018. However, a slightly higher proportion (97.9%) of Match Day offerings were filled in 2018 than in 2019. Internal medicine/pediatrics offered 390 positions, more than 2018’s 382 positions. Although a slightly smaller proportion were filled in 2019 (98.2% vs. 98.7% ), a slightly larger proportion of positions in 2019 were filled by U.S. graduates (80.8% in 2019 vs. 80.1% in 2018). For all specialties, U.S. first-year applicants filled 55.2%, and the overall fill rate was 94.9% of the 32,194 available positions, an increase of 6.5% over the number of positions available in 2018, according to the NRMP in its 2019 Main Resident Match report.
Overall, the 2019 Match set a new high for total positions offered at 35,135, for which there were a record-high 38,376 applicants. The increases are likely related, in part, to the greater number of osteopathic programs joining the Match Day offerings because of an ongoing move toward a single accreditation system.
“The results of the Match are closely watched because they can be predictors of future physician workforce supply. There also is significant interest in the competitiveness of specialties, as measured by the percentage of positions filled overall and the percentage filled by senior students in U.S. allopathic medical schools,” the NRMP said.