The high cost of recruiting residents

We have developed estimates for the cost of recruiting first-year residents through the National Resident Matching Program. The cost to our medical center was estimated to be $1,469 for each resident obtained through the matching program. The cost to each applicant averaged $659, and the cost to the applicants' medical schools for processing letters of recommendation was approximately $99 per student. We describe our recruiting methods and costs in order to provide other medical centers with a source for comparison and to stimulate suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of recruiting. We suggest that limiting the number of programs at which an applicant may interview would reduce costs without damaging the recruiting process.