The National Resident Matching Program: An Outdated Business Model Due for Reform
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2025

The Participant-Reported Implementation Update and Score PRIUS: A Novel Method for Capturing Implementation-Related Data Over Time
Published on: February 19, 2021
Hazem Nasef1, Muhammad Usman Awan1, Nickolas Hernandez2
1Kiran Patel College of Allopathic Medicine, NOVA Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA.
Introduction:
This study aims to examine the trends across the entire NRMP application cycles from 2007-2008 to 2022-2023, specifically exploring trends across competitive surgical specialties to assess the efficacy of the existing NRMP business model and provide evidence-based recommendations to better address the current needs of both applicants and programs.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study exploring the trends in the mean number of applicants and mean number of total ranked positions per applicant across surgical, the top 5 most competitive surgical specialties, and non-surgical specialties from 2007-2008 to the 2022-2023 match cycles utilizing data from the NRMP database.
Results:
Over the studied 16 match cycles, the mean number of applicants to surgical specialties has increased by 47.99% and the mean number of total ranked positions per applicant has increased by 88.07%. For the top 5 most competitive specialties, the mean number of applicants has increased by 57.66% and the mean number of total ranked positions per applicant has increased by 83.33%.
Conclusion:
Trends across the 16 most recent NRMP cycles show evidence of increased congestion in the match system, the burden of which is primarily placed on applicants. Our findings support the need for drastic reform in the NRMP to relieve this burden, and we discuss practical solutions to allow the NRMP to better meet the needs of applicants and residency programs alike.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Methods of Documentation VI: Case Management Model
For example, a patient with a chronic...
Mechanistic Models: Compartment Models in Algorithms for Numerical Problem Solving
In individual population analyses, different algorithms are employed, such as Cauchy's method, which uses a...
Community Based Intervention
Foundations of Community Mental Health Programs
Central to the success of community-based interventions is the...
Restorative Care
Documentation in Long-Term and Home Healthcare Setting
Long-Term Care Facilities
Homologous Recombination

