Charting Outcomes™: Demographic Characteristics of Applicants in the Main Residency Match® and SOAP®

We are pleased to announce the release of an enhanced interactive dashboard for the Charting Outcomes™: Demographic Characteristics of Applicants in the Main Residency Match® (MRM) and SOAP® report. Designed with the end user in mind, the updated dashboard offers greater flexibility and a more intuitive experience for exploring the data. Users can now access clearer, more meaningful views of demographic characteristics by applicant type, Match and SOAP placement status, and specialty. In addition, the dashboard includes trend data, enabling comparisons of MRM applicant demographics across the past five Match cycles.  

Purpose:

The purpose of collecting and analyzing voluntary applicant demographic data is to advance understanding of the relationships among applicant characteristics, specialty choice, and experiences within the Match. The NRMP shares these findings to enhance transparency in the transition to residency, support informed discussion about entry into physician training programs and access to preferred specialties, and contribute to a broader understanding of the resident and future physician workforce. 

Charting Outcomes in the Match: Demographic Characteristics of Applicants in the MRM and SOAP is built using data visualization software and draws on demographic questions administered to applicants registering for the MRM through the NRMP’s Registration, Ranking, and Results^® (R3^®) system. These questions assess applicant-reported characteristics including, but not limited to: 

• Sex assigned at birth
• Sexual orientation
• Racial identities
• Hispanic/Latino ethnicity
• Disability status and accommodations sought during residency
• Urbanicity of childhood rearing environment
• First-generation college and medical school graduate statuses
• Family socioeconomic factors during applicants’ childhoods 

Data Considerations and Relevant Definitions

Given the updates to this year’s data visualizations, users are encouraged to review the accompanying narrative, which provides helpful context, supports accurate interpretation of the data, and facilitates full use of the dashboard’s capabilities. 

DEFINITIONS

Active Applicant 

An applicant who submits a certified rank order list of programs. 

Applicant Type¹ 

• Senior Student of U.S. MD Medical School (U.S. MD Senior): A student who graduated from a Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accredited medical school between June 30 of the calendar year the Match opens and 9:00 pm eastern time on the Rank Order List Certification Deadline in the year of the Match. 

• Senior Student of U.S. DO Medical School (U.S. DO Senior): A student who graduated from an American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) accredited medical school between June 30 of the calendar year the Match opens and 9:00 pm eastern time on the Rank Order List Certification Deadline in the year of the Match. 

• Previous Graduate of U.S. MD Medical School (U.S. MD Grad): An applicant who graduated from a LCME-accredited medical school prior to the year of the Match. Previous U.S. MD graduates are not sponsored by their medical schools. 

• Previous Graduate of U.S. DO Medical School (U.S. DO Grad): An applicant who graduated from AOA COCA-accredited medical school prior to the year of the Match. Previous U.S. DO graduates are not sponsored by their medical schools. 

• Graduate of Canadian Medical School (Canadian): A graduate of a Canadian school of medicine accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools (CACMS) prior to July 1, 2025. Applicants who graduated from Canadian medical schools after July 1, 2025 are considered International Medical Graduates (IMGs). 

• U.S. Citizen Student/Graduate of International Medical School (U.S. IMG): A U.S. citizen who is enrolled in, or a graduate of, a medical school outside the United States that is not accredited by the LCME or the AOA COCA. 

• Non-U.S. Citizen Student/Graduate of International Medical School (Non-U.S. IMG): A non-U.S. citizen who is enrolled in, or a graduate of, a medical school outside the United States that is not accredited by the LCME or the AOA COCA. 

¹ While the NRMP defines eight types of applicants, Fifth Pathway applicants were excluded from this report due to small cell sizes. 

Matched Applicant 

An active applicant who matches to a position through the matching algorithm. 

Matched Specialty 

The specialty of the program to which an applicant matches through the matching algorithm. 

Matched Not Preferred 

When an applicant matches but to a specialty other than the one they preferred. 

Matched to Preferred 

When an applicant matches to their preferred specialty. 

Obtained a Position versus Did Not Obtain a Position 

Whether or not an applicant obtains a position either through the matching algorithm or by accepting an offer during the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program^® (SOAP^®) process. 

Position Obtained in SOAP 

Whether or not an applicant obtains a position in the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP). 

Preferred Specialty 

The specialty of the program ranked first on an applicant’s rank order list, excluding preliminary/transitional programs.  

Program Type 

• Categorical (C): Post graduate year one (PGY-1) position that provides the full training required for board certification in a specialty.  

• Categorical Primary Care (M): Categorical position in Medicine or Pediatrics that provides a training emphasis on primary care.  

• Preliminary (P): One-year position in a Transitional Year or specialty program. 

• Advanced (A): PGY-2 positions in a specialty program that begins the year after the Match and after one or more years of required preliminary training  

• Physician (R): PGY-2 positions in specialty programs that begin in the year of the Match and are reserved for physicians with prior graduate medical education. These positions are also known as “Reserved Positions”. 

Registered Applicant 

An applicant who has registered to participate in the Main Residency Match in the NRMP’s Registration, Ranking, and Results^® (R3^®) system. Applicants are classified into one of three statuses: 

• Active: An applicant who submits a certified rank order list of programs. 

• Registered: An applicant who registers to participate in the MRM but who does not certify a rank order list of programs and who is not withdrawn. 

• Withdrawn: An applicant who withdraws or is withdrawn from the Match.  

Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program^® (SOAP^®) 

The process by which eligible unmatched or partially matched applicants in the Main Residency Match apply for and may be offered a position(s) that did not fill when the matching algorithm was processed. 

SOAP-Eligible Applicant 

An applicant who has registered in the R3 system for the Main Residency Match, is unmatched or partially matched on Monday of Match Week, and is eligible to enter graduate medical education on July 1^st of the Match Year (verified by an applicant’s medical school or ECFMG for IMGs). 

SOAP Placed Applicant 

An applicant who accepts a position during SOAP. 

SOAP Placed Specialty 

The specialty in which an applicant accepts a position during SOAP. 

Underrepresented in Medicine 

Applicants who self-report being American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and/or Pacific Islander. 

Unmatched Applicant 

An active applicant who does not match to a position through the matching algorithm. 

Unmatched & Not Placed 

An applicant who is eligible to receive a position through the matching algorithm and/or SOAP but who does not receive any position through the matching algorithm or SOAP. Also referred to as applicants with no position.  

Data Considerations:

• A minimum cell size of 25 respondents is required for all data points included in the report. In some cases, the threshold affects which demographic characteristics may be reported (e.g., specific disability types and disability accommodations sought during medical school cannot be reported).   
• The minimum cell size requirement may restrict which response options within a characteristic may be reported.  
• Not all applicants consent to provide demographic data for research. Only those who consented are included in the visuals.  
• Modifications were made to the 2025 demographic items for the 2026 MRM. For items administered in previous years, please see prior narrative text reports. 
• For those applicants who match to Advanced and Preliminary positions, only the Advanced position is represented in the data. This means that the applicant’s “matched specialty” is the specialty of the Advanced position received. Similarly, if an applicant accepts both an Advanced and Preliminary position in SOAP, only the Advanced position is represented in the data. If an applicant matches only to a Preliminary position or receives only a Preliminary position in SOAP (regardless of whether or not they receive an Advanced position via the matching algorithm), these Preliminary positions are represented in the data. As a result, selecting “Preliminary” on the Matched Program Type filter represents applicants who match only to a Preliminary position, and selecting “Preliminary” on the SOAP Placed Program Type filter represents applicants who accept only a Preliminary position in SOAP. If an applicant matches to one position via the algorithm and accepts another position in SOAP, both positions are represented in the data (in their respective Matched/SOAP Placed tabs).