2022 Match® Results for Family Medicine
The American Academy of Family Physicians’ (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: the moment medical students and graduates obtain their residency training position in a medical specialty. The AAFP closely monitors important workforce trends. For historical comparison, this analysis also includes insights into Match data reported by the American Osteopathic Association regarding the AOA Intern/Resident Registration Program (AOA Match) prior to 2020.
For more analysis, download the AAFP's full 2022 Match Results for Family Medicine.
Call to Action
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. 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. 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.
Family Medicine Match Highlights
2022 NRMP Match Highlights
- 4,470 medical students and graduates matched to family medicine residency programs. Here's the breakdown:
- 1,555 U.S. allopathic medical school (MD) seniors
- 1,496 osteopathic medical school (DO) seniors
- 779 U.S. international medical graduates (IMGs)
- 458 foreign IMGs
- 94 previous graduates of DO-granting schools
- 87 previous graduates of U.S. MD-granting schools
- 1 classified by the NRMP as “other”
- Family medicine offered 4,935 positions, 91 more than in 2021, and 13.6% of positions offered in all specialties.
- The number of U.S. MD seniors matching decreased by 68 compared with the year prior. It remains significantly below—785 matches—the historical peak of 2,340 in 1997. Only 8.4% 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 53 matches over 2021. However, the percentage of DO students matching to family medicine (22.4%) has declined steadily.
- One-quarter (25.1%) of U.S. IMGs and 10% of foreign IMGs who matched to any specialty matched to family medicine.
- A total of 3,232 U.S. MD and DO seniors and graduates matched in family medicine.
- Family medicine represents 12.2% of all U.S. students or graduates who matched in 2022.
Brief Historical Comparison
Family Medicine Programs
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:
- 745 family medicine categorical programs offered 4,916 and filled 4,451 positions. The overall fill rate for family medicine-categorical programs was 90.5%.
- 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.
More on the Family Medicine and Primary Care Workforce
The NRMP Match is the largest and most representative mechanism for medical student recruitment into specialized medical residencies in the United States, and as such, serves as a barometer of workforce production.
However, NRMP Match results are not comprehensive of all entry into graduate medical education in the U.S. The NRMP Match is not the only mechanism through which medical students or graduates are matched with their required graduate medical education, or residency programs, in a specialized field to lead to board certification in a medical specialty (or multiple specialties). Other matching services, like the annual Military Match, as well as private arrangements outside of the Match also fill residency openings. The results published on Match Day each year also exclude the SOAP.
For additional analysis of the family medicine workforce, visit:
- 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.
For more on the primary care physician workforce:
- 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.
To connect with the AAFP’s efforts on workforce reform:
- 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.
- 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.
Find AAFP resources to support students on their journey to family medicine:
- 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 2022-2023 Match season to focus entirely on careers in family medicine and family medicine residency.
- 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.