Quality Over Quantity? Family Medicine Residency Applications in the Postpandemic Era

Over the last three match cycles (2023, 2024, and 2025), a coordinated effort has led family medicine residency applicants to apply to fewer programs, resulting, on average, in 21% fewer US applications for programs to review. Whether this decline is a cause for celebration or concern is unclear. How has the reduction affected the number of applicants programs considered desirable?

For the past 3 years, the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Family Medicine Residency Program (FMRP) has consistently used a two-faculty review process to decide which applicants are invited to interview. We conducted a χ² test of independence to assess the relationship between the application year and the percentage of applicants invited to interview in the first round.

Using 2023 as a baseline, the OHSU FMRP received 15.2% and 33.7% fewer applicants in the 2024 and 2025 match cycles, respectively. Concurrently, 33.7% of applicants in 2024 and 36.4% of applicants in the 2025 match were offered an interview in the first wave of interviews, which is higher than in 2023.

These data indicate that although the number of applicants decreased over the last three match cycles, applicant quality has remained consistent. A broader analysis is needed to understand the impact on programs and the factors influencing applicants' choice of programs in the era of virtual interviews and program signaling.