2023 Match® Results for Family Medicine
The AAFP’s brief analysis of family medicine results from the annual National Resident Matching Program Main Residency Match® (NRMP Match) provides a snapshot of the incoming physician workforce at its most significant inflection point. These results do not account for other matching services, like the annual Military Match, private arrangements outside of the Match, or the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP).
Overall Outcomes for Family Medicine
In the 2023 NRMP Match:
- 4,530 medical students and graduates matched to family medicine residency programs. Here's the breakdown:
- 1,499 U.S. allopathic medical school (MD) seniors
- 1,514 osteopathic medical school (DO) seniors
- 793 U.S. international medical graduates (IMGs)
- 562 foreign IMGs
- 70 previous graduates of DO-granting schools
- 91 previous graduates of U.S. MD-granting schools
- 1 classified by the NRMP as “other”
- Family medicine offered 5,107 positions, 172 more than in 2022, and 13.6% of positions offered in all specialties.
- The number of U.S. MD seniors matching decreased by 56 compared with the year prior. It remains significantly below—841 matches—the historical peak of 2,340 in 1997. Only 8.1% of matched U.S. MD seniors matched in family medicine.
- The number of DO seniors matching to family medicine reached a record high, growing by 18 matches over 2022 and surpassing the number of U.S. MD seniors matching in family medicine. However, the percentage of DO students matching to family medicine (22.2%) continues to decline steadily.
- Almost one-quarter (23.6%) of U.S. IMGs and 11.2% of foreign IMGs who matched to any specialty matched to family medicine.
- A total of 3,174 U.S. MD and DO seniors and graduates matched in family medicine.
- Family medicine represents 12% of all U.S. students or graduates who matched in 2023.
Family Medicine Residency Positions Offered and Filled
These results are a combination of all PGY-1 positions that result in eligibility for licensure and board certification in family medicine. Those include family medicine-categorical and combined residency programs. Broken down:
- 773 family medicine categorical programs offered 5,088 and filled 4,511 positions. The overall fill rate for family medicine-categorical programs was 88.7%.
- 6 family medicine-psychiatry programs offered and filled 10 positions.
- 3 emergency medicine-family medicine programs offered and filled 7 positions.
- 2 family medicine-preventive medicine programs offered and filled 2 positions.
Call to Action
Health care, education, and societal systems need to incentivize, recruit, and support a more diverse medical student population that better represents the U.S. population and those who are more likely to choose primary care careers and practice in underserved areas.
- While the residency Match results reflect momentum for family medicine, the pace needs to accelerate in order to meet the demand for family medicine in the U.S. The U.S. medical education system is far from delivering the primary care medical workforce needed in the country it serves, and whose taxpayers fund it.
- The composition of residency training positions must reflect the composition needed in the workforce, and as such, needs to increase steeply in family medicine, other primary care specialties, and a few other specialties.
- Substantial increases in the family medicine and primary care workforce—while also accounting for the composition, distribution, and quality of that workforce—are needed to improve the health of Americans and the sustainability of the health care system.
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- Trends in US Medical School Contributions to the Family Physician Workforce: 2018 Update From the American Academy of Family Physicians – This article provides an in-depth look at those entering family medicine residency programs, including the percentage of graduates from U.S. medical schools.
- Results of the 2017 National Resident Matching Program® and the American Osteopathic Association Intern/Resident Registration Program: An Examination of Family Medicine and Primary Care – This article is the last in a long-running series that reported on the performance of family medicine and other primary care specialties in the NRMP Match. A detailed analysis of the AOA Match is also included.
- The Primary Care Scorecard (Feb. 2023) - The Health of US Primary Care: A Baseline Scorecard Tracking Support for High-Quality Primary Care
- Primary Care in the US: A Chartbook of Facts and Statistics – From the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Primary Care, this describes the current state of primary care in the U.S. and presents information from a variety of national sources to answer questions about who, what, where, and how primary care is being delivered.
- Graham Center State Workforce Projections - The Graham Center projects to 2030 the needed primary care physician workforce by state.
- Graham Center Publications and Reports on Medical Education - Find Graham Center research on medical education, including related to graduate medical education positions, medical school contributions to the primary care workforce, Teaching Health Centers, and more.
- No More Lip Service; It’s Time We Fixed Primary Care – This two-part Health Affairs blog post calls for changes across the system to reach the optimal primary care workforce.
- Implementing High-Quality Primary Care: Rebuilding the Foundation of Health Care - This landmark report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine proposes an implementation plan to strengthen primary care in the U.S., especially for underserved populations, and to inform primary care systems around the world.
- Graduate Medical Education Financing Policy – The AAFP’s recommended six principles to reforming the nation’s graduate medical education system to meet workforce needs.
- Fighting for Family Medicine – Read about recent AAFP advocacy wins to strengthen the primary care workforce.
- How to Strengthen the Primary Care Workforce – Learn about AAFP’s message to Congress
- AAFP Advocacy Focus: Graduate Medical Education – Learn about and Speak Out on efforts to grow graduate medical education opportunities in family medicine.
- AAFP Advocacy Focus: Medical Student Debt – Learn about and Speak Out on efforts to address the affordability of medical school and decreasing medical student debt.
- AAFP policy on Student Choice of Family Medicine, Incentives for Increasing
- AAFP policy on Diversity in the Workforce
- Strolling Through The Match – The AAFP's comprehensive guide to matching provides information from start to finish of the Match process, including the timeline, process, and tips on ranking programs and interviewing. This resource has been updated for the 2023-2024 Match season to include advice on new signaling, past experience, and geographic preferences options in the residency application process, and focuses entirely on careers in family medicine.
- AAFP National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students – This annual conference hosted by the AAFP gives medical students and residents an opportunity to explore the family medicine specialty and interact with thousands of peers, hundreds of residency programs, and leaders in family medicine.
- FMIG Network – The AAFP’s Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG) Network supports medical school student organizations to provide activities and programming that promote family medicine across the country and internationally.
- Primary Care Leadership Collaborative (PCLC) – This leadership program designed for medical student leaders of FMIGs trains and supports them to advance primary care and improve the health of their communities.
- Family Medicine – This special edition covers progress toward student interest in family medicine.
Download the Full Match Analysis
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