Minority student success and failure with the National Intern and Resident Matching Program

Doubts have been raised concerning the success of minority students in obtaining the more desirable teaching hospital internships in the United States. Earlier reports by others indicated that minority graduates may be anywhere from 41 percent to 70 percent successful in obtaining their first, second, or third choice of internship through the National Intern and Resident Matching Program. Ninety percent of those in the sample reported here were successful. At least one minority applicant was a successful intern candidate in 79 out of the 103 institutions where internships had been most sought after by this group. Possible reasons for these different findings are not adequately explained because of a lack of comparable data on minority and nonminority pools; further sample studies are required to establish the actual facts.