DO Match Day Produces Nearly 1,000 Primary Care Residents

Primary Care Specialties Account for 62 Percent of Matches

(February 8, 2018) More than 1,600 osteopathic medical school seniors and graduates matched into osteopathic residencies in 25 specialties this year, according to the American Osteopathic Association (AOA).  

Slightly more than 2,200 graduating osteopathic medical students—of the anticipated 6,600—joined approximately 300 past DO graduates to participate in this year's AOA Match. The percentage of participants who matched is 65.7 percent, which is slightly lower than past years. 
 
Specialty choices in the match results align with the osteopathic profession's historic emphasis on careers in primary care, with 55 percent choosing family and internal medicine. The top five specialties by number of matches are:

Specialty Total Number Matched % of Total Match
Family Medicine 503 30%
Internal Medicine 426 25%
Emergency Medicine 158 9%
General Surgery 118 7%
Orthopedic Surgery 115 7%
Other Specialties 360 22%

In all, 580 positions were filled in non-primary care specialties and over 700 positions were not filled through the initial match process. Historically many of these positions are filled after today's match announcement.

Residencies moving, not disappearing

The AOA, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) are in the third year of a five-year transition to a single accreditation system for graduate medical education. To date, nearly half of all osteopathic training programs have transitioned to ACGME accreditation with the majority expected to complete the process by the end of 2020.

DOs currently have a choice between multiple systems for post-graduate education. In the single accreditation system, most DO and MD students will join in a unified National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), in which participants will have the opportunity to choose residency programs that received "osteopathic recognition."

For more information, contact Atlantic Health Partners' Cindy Berenson or Jeff Winokur at 800-741-2044 or info@atlantichealthpartners.com.
For more information, contact Atlantic Health Partners' Cindy Berenson or Jeff Winokur at 800-741-2044 or info@atlantichealthpartners.com.

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