10 things to know about 2023 Match Day

The number of individuals applying to residency through the National Resident Matching Program increased slightly compared with last year, but the number of unfilled positions also grew.

The National Resident Matching Program, a private, nonprofit organization overseeing health systems' residency selection process, published its "Match Day" results on March 17. Nearly 43,000 applicants submitted program preferences for this year’s main residency match, the largest number in the program's 70-year history.

Numerous health systems have created additional residency programs in an effort to strengthen the university-medical facility pipeline and address staffing shortages.

Here are 10 notable data points from the National Resident Matching Program regarding this year's main residency match process: 

1. A total of 40,375 residency positions were available in 2023, an increase of more than 1,100 roles since last year.
2. 93.3% of the positions, or 37,690 roles, were filled. This marks a 0.9 percentage point decrease from 2022, with 2,685 positions unfilled.
3. Overall, 48,156 applicants participated in this year’s residency match, an increase of 481 individuals. The growth was driven by a higher number of non-U.S. citizen international medical school graduates and fourth-year medical students in schools accredited by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation.
4. 19,748 senior medical students at institutions accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education submitted their residency program choices, a 0.8% decrease from last year.
5. Of the 42,952 applicants who submitted program preferences in 2023’s match, 34,822 matched to a first-year residency position, which is a match rate of 81.1%.
6. For senior medical students at institutions accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the match rate was 93.7%, compared with a 67.6% match rate for U.S. citizens who attended an international medical school and a 59.4% rate for non-U.S. citizens who attended an international medical school.
7. Internal medicine and family medicine had the highest number of available positions. Each had hundreds of unfilled roles. 
8. Orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, radiology and thoracic surgery filled all open residency positions. 
9. Primary care added 571 open positions this year. The fill rate has remained steady at 94.2%.
10. The National Resident Matching Program highlighted the emergency medicine specialty, which had 335 more unfilled positions this year compared with 2022. The change could be due to “changing applicant interests or projections about workforce opportunities post residency,” according to the program.