April 2022 Illuminator

Shining a Light on Match News that Matters

This issue of the Illuminator includes:

Main Residency Match Results

On March 18, 2022, the NRMP celebrated Match Day for the 2022 Main Residency Match. It was among the strongest of Matches, with a record number of U.S. seniors and positions offered. Read below for highlights.


Program and Position Participation, Fill Rates Remain High
The 2022 Main Residency Match included 39,205 total positions, the largest number on record. Of those, 36,277 were first-year (PGY-1) positions, also the largest on record and a 3.1 percentage point increase over last year. The growth in PGY-1 positions was supported in part by an increase in the number of programs offering PGY-1 positions, 177 or 3.4 percent, in the Match.  
Out of the 39,205 total positions offered, 36,943 filled for a rate of 94.2 percent, and of the 36,277 first-year positions offered, 34,075 filled for a rate of 93.9 percent. Both fill rates represent a less than one percentage point decline from last year. Of the 6,087 total certified programs, 5,367 filled at 88.2 percent, a slight decrease over last year. 


Applicant Participation, Match Rates Higher for Nearly All Groups
There were 47,675 total applicants registered in the 2022 Main Residency Match, a decrease of 2.1 percentage points from last year. While the number of U.S. MD and DO seniors increased (78 and 234, respectively) to all-time highs, there were 1,433 fewer U.S. citizen and non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates who registered for the Match. Sustained concerns about travel regulations and possible variant strain outbreaks related to the COVID-19 pandemic could explain these lower participation rates. 
There were 42,549 active applicants (those who submitted certified rank order lists) in the 2022 Main Match, and 34,075 of those matched to PGY-1 positions at a rate of 80.1 percent, a 1.6 percentage point increase over last year. 


Read the entire press release and view the Advance Data Tables, Match by the Numbers and Main Residency Match infographic.

Fellowship Results and Data Report Available

The NRMP has published the Results and Data Specialties Matching Service, 2022 Appointment Year annual report. The report provides summary statistics, five-year trend data by specialty, and match rates by applicant type. 
The 2022 appointment year surpassed 2021 with 13,586 active applicants (those submitting certified rank order lists) vying for 12,571 fellowship positions offered by 5,436 programs across 71 subspecialties. Other highlights from the report:

  • Three new subspecialties joined the SMS for the 2022 appointment year: Global Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, and Emergency Radiology.
  • Among specialties offering at least 30 total positions, the five with the highest percentages filled by U.S. MD graduates include Pediatric Surgery (95.3%), Gynecologic Oncology (94.6%), Reproductive Endocrinology (89.8%), Maternal-Fetal Medicine (88.2%), and Hand Surgery (87.8%). 
  • Among specialties offering at least 30 total positions, the five with the highest percentages filled by U.S. DO graduates include Sports Medicine (36.6%), Spinal Cord Injury (35.3%), Emergency Medical Services (27.2%), Global Emergency Medicine (22.7%), and Pain Medicine (21.5%). 

View the SMS Fellowship Infographic and other Fellowship-related reports.

NRMP Connects

The NRMP is pleased to share newsworthy initiatives and happenings within the organization and GME community to foster conversations and improve connectedness.

As part of its NRMP Connects series, the NRMP interviewed Natasha Bray, DO, MSEd, Interim Dean of the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation, to learn more about her path to Medicine, her involvement in the ground-breaking partnership between OSU and the Cherokee Nation to support community and elevate URM in medicine, and the impact she believes the partnership is having on the student body.


Dr. Bray is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine. She also is a member of the NRMP Board of Directors.

A teaser of Dr. Bray’s interview is presented below. Read the full interview.

NRMP: What was the impetus for establishing the OSU-COM at the Cherokee Nation?
Dr. Bray: OSU has been a leader in rural health for decades – we truly walk the walk when it comes to caring for rural Oklahoma. We consistently have had the highest proportion of Native American students at any medical school in the country. The historic partnership between OSU and the Cherokee Nation (CN) advances the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation with the establishment of the nation’s first tribally affiliated college of medicine on a tribal reservation. OSU and CN already shared a vision to ease the primary care shortage impacting rural, tribal, and underserved Oklahoma communities. Oklahoma and rural Oklahoma, where so many tribal citizens live, face some of the worst health challenges in the country. Oklahoma ranks 46th in the number of primary care doctors per capita. The state needs 732 more doctors to reach the national rate of 92.5 practicing primary physicians per 100,000 residents. In addition to a physician shortage, Oklahoma has an aging physician population with 57 percent of physicians practicing in rural Oklahoma are older than age 55 and 27 percent are older than age 66. Oklahoma perpetually comes in last in almost any metric used for measuring health.  In a state with such poor health, our rural areas suffer even greater health disparities. Because this is where a high percentage of American Indians live, many tribes began to lead the way in solving rural health problems. Creating opportunities for Native Americans to train to become physicians is important in the work to address these health disparities and meet the needs of Indian Health Services and Tribal health care systems for physicians. American Indians/Alaskan Natives are under-represented in the medical field with only 0.3% of active U.S. medical residents being AI/AN, compared with 1.3 percent of the U.S. population. 


NRMP: What is it like being part of the first tribally-affiliated college of medicine to ever open in the U.S.?
Dr. Bray: It is a true honor. We are setting the groundwork to establish a firm foundation for future growth physically and metaphorically. The partnership has made both Cherokee Nation and OSUCHS stronger as we tackle the state’s physician shortage. I have also been proud to learn and expose students to accurate tribal culture for all tribes, not just Cherokee Nation. I think we have the opportunity to increase cultural awareness in a whole new way, that will be impactful to the healthcare tribal citizens receive in the future. 


NRMP: Where do you see the program in 5 years? 
Dr. Bray: We will have our first graduates in 2024, opening additional opportunities for growth in five years. The future looks busy! I really see our graduates taking what they’ve learned here medically and culturally and seeing it come together as they care for some of the first patients of their medical career. As they build treatment plans for members of their community, and see outcomes improve, that’s where it’s all worth it.We also will have a rural track of OSU’s pediatric residency program opening with the Cherokee Nation in the summer of 2022. This exciting expansion of training opportunities within the Cherokee Nation health care system furthers our impact on patient care in our communities. I see our elementary, middle, and high school students in rural Oklahoma start to realize at a young age that they can be doctors in their communities. They’ll start to see that they can really help the health of their own community members because they’ve seen kids from their hometown become the hometown doctor.

Constituent Engagement and Building Community

NRMP Customer Service: Providing Outstanding Support to the Community


In honor of April being Community Service Month, we want to acknowledge and give a big THANK YOU to the customer support staff at the NRMP for the exceptional service they provide Match stakeholders, especially during the Main Residency Match.


High-quality service is a cornerstone of the NRMP, and we are proud to support constituents throughout the year.

Upcoming Dates

Laryngology, Pediatric Surgery, Thoracic Surgery & Vascular Surgery, Vascular Neurology

  • April 13, 11:59 p.m. ET: Quota Change Deadline

Hand Surgery

  • April 20, 11:59 p.m. ET: Quota Change Deadline 

Radiology, Surgical Oncology

  • April 20, 12:00 p.m. ET: Rank Order List Opens 

Laryngology, Pediatric Surgery, Thoracic Surgery & Vascular Surgery, Vascular Neurology

  • April 27, 9:00 p.m. ET: Rank Order List Certification Deadline

Careers at NRMP

NRMP is growing to meet the needs of the community. We currently have six open positions:   

  • Client Support Specialist
  • Compliance Specialist
  • Director, Information Technology Security
  • Human Resources Manager
  • IT Manager, Workplace Technology
  • Product Manager

Coming soon – Research Statistician


For more information, please visit our Careers page. NRMP is an equal opportunity employer.