The 2024 Residency Match is now more than a full week behind us. For those 38,494 applicants who did match, excitement has now turned toward planning for residency. For those who did not match, the initial disappointment has turned into motivation for next year’s match.

As has been the trend over the past few years, this year’s Match saw record numbers. Sometimes in unexpected places.

Check out our three main takeaways from the 2024 NRMP Residency Match below.

 

Record Applicant Numbers

Match numbers have been on the rise in the past few years, and this year was no different with a record setting number of both applicants (50,413) and applicants who submitted a rank list (44,853). As NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, DHSc, MBA, BSN, notes in the organization’s 2024 Match press release, this is the first cohort of residents whose entire medical school journey was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

A Record Year for DOs and IMGs

While U.S. MD seniors are once again the largest demographic of Match applicants this year, a growth in two different demographics were the main reason for such a large applicant pool this year.

Of the 2,257 more applicants on this year’s Match over last year, 623 of those applicants were U.S. DO seniors. This was a record setting year for DO applicants, but it was also a record year for DOs matched, with 92.3% of applicants finding a residency program to call home in 2024.

The other contributor to this year’s record application was non-U.S. IMGs. This year, 1,986 more non-U.S. IMGs applied to the Match than in 2023; however, there was a drop in the percentage of those who matched.

 

Emergency Medicine Shows Signs of Recovery

A significant concern coming out of the 2023 Match was the decline in Emergency Medicine residents. In 2023, the EM fill rate dipped to a fill rate of just 81.6% and marked its second year of decline. In 2024, the EM fill rate made a considerable jump, hitting 95.5%.

In a field that faced high demands during the pandemic, this jump marks a return to normalcy for the specialty.

 

Read the full 2024 Residency Match breakdown on the NRMP’s website.