Graduate medical education in the United States

1. The annual surveys of residency programs on which this report is based have had a response rate higher than 90% for the past five years. 2. The count of available residency positions is a fluid entity and seems to be dependent on many factors, including funding and the number of qualified candidates seen by program directors. 3. The number of GY-1 positions has not changed significantly over the past three years. The number of reported unfilled positions, including GY-1 unfilled positions, has increased each year since 1985. The total number of residents on duty decreased in 1985 but increased in 1986 and in 1987. This increase is due mainly to the number of residents on duty in the new internal medicine and pediatric subspecialty programs. 4. The number of new-entry (GY-1) residents decreased in 1985, 1986, and 1987. 5. Thirty-nine percent of residents were training in family practice, internal medicine, or pediatrics. 6. The number and percentage of women in residency programs continue to increase, as they have for the past several years. 7. The percentage of foreign medical graduate residents decreased slightly to 15.6% in 1987. 8. The number of black non-Hispanic residents increased in 1987, although the percentage of black residents remained about the same. 9. The number of graduates of osteopathic medical schools in ACGME programs has increased 59% since 1985. 10. The number of institutions involved in graduate medical education has not changed significantly over the past three years, although the number of institutions that are not hospitals has increased since 1983. Ninety percent of all types of institutions have some type of affiliation with a US medical school.