Primary Care Specialties Account for 62% of Matches, with Emergency Medicine Leading Specialty Placements
CHICAGO—February 5, 2018—More than 1,600 osteopathic medical school seniors and graduates today matched into osteopathic residencies in 25 specialties, 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%, which is slightly lower than past years.
Specialty choices in today’s match results align with the osteopathic profession’s historic emphasis on careers in primary care, with 55% choosing family and internal medicine. The top five specialties by number of matches are:
| AOA Match Results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Specialty | 2018 Total Number Matched | % of Total Match by Specialty | |
| 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 (AACOM) 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.”
About the AOA
The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) represents more than 137,000 osteopathic physicians (DOs) and osteopathic medical students; promotes public health; encourages scientific research; serves as the primary certifying body for DOs; and is the accrediting agency for osteopathic medical schools.
To learn more about DOs and the osteopathic philosophy of medicine, visit www.DoctorsThatDO.org.
Media Contacts:
Jessica Bardoulas
(312) 202-8038
jbardoulas@osteopathic.org
Twitter: @AOAforDOs