On Match Day 2021, pediatrics filled 98.4% of all offered positions in the Main Residency Match, up from 97.9% in 2020.
Categorical pediatrics filled 98.5% and internal medicine-pediatrics filled 100% of all offered positions. In 2019, the numbers were 98.2% and 97.7%, respectively.
This year's Match Day — when medical school students and graduates learn in which U.S. residency program they will train — was the largest in the history of the National Resident Matching Program. There were 38,106 total positions offered. The number of first-year (PGY-1) positions offered was 35,194, an increase of 928 (2.7%) over 2020.
This was the second year that all allopathic (M.D.) and osteopathic (D.O.) applicants took part in one matching program.
AAP President Lee Savio Beers, M.D., FAAP, offered a special video message to future pediatricians, as they celebrated virtually.
“This is just one step in a wonderful journey towards becoming a pediatrician,” she said. “I want you to know that the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Section on Pediatric Trainees are here to support you in that journey. I began my own career with the AAP as a resident. … We are so excited to have you as a part of our profession and as a future Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.”
For more analysis of this year's Match, see the May issue of AAP News.