In a record year for the Match, psychiatry residencies filled 99.8% of their available positions in 2021, which were up 2.6% over last year, according to the National Resident Matching Program.
“Rather than faltering in these uncertain times, program fill rates increased across the board,” the NRMP said in a written statement. Overall, the 2021 Main Residency Match offered (35,194) and filled (33,353) more first-year (PGY-1) slots than ever before, for a fill rate of 94.8%, which was up from 94.6% the year before.
Psychiatry offered 1,907 positions in this year’s Match, up by 2.6% over 2020, and filled 1,904, for a 1-year increase of 3.6% and a fill rate of 99.8%. The corresponding PGY-1 numbers for the Match as a whole were 70.4% U.S. and 21.1% international medical graduates, based on NRMP data.
The number of positions offered in psychiatry residencies has increased by 412 (27.6%) since 2017, and such growth over time may “be a predictor of future physician workforce supply,” the NRMP suggested. Psychiatry also increased its share of all available residency positions from 5.1% in 2018 to 5.4% in 2021.
“Concerns about the impact of virtual recruitment on applicants’ matching into PGY-1 positions were not realized,” the NRMP noted, as “growth in registration was seen in every applicant group.” Compared with 2020, submissions of rank-order lists of programs were up by 2.8% for U.S. MD seniors, 7.9% for U.S. DO seniors, 2.5% among U.S.-citizen IMGs, and 15.0% for non–U.S.-citizen IMGs.
“The application and recruitment cycle was upended as a result of the pandemic, yet the results of the Match continue to demonstrate strong and consistent outcomes for participants,” said Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN, president and CEO of the NRMP.