TY  - JOUR
DO  - 10.22454/PRiMER.2025.978889
VL  - 9
DA  - 2025/08/19
N2  - Introduction: 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?
Methods: 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.
Results: 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.
Conclusions: 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.
PB  - Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
AU  - Skariah, Joe M.
AU  - Roper, Whitney
AU  - Gilbert, Kristin
AU  - Gobel, Jen
AU  - Schneider, Benjamin
L2  - http://journals.stfm.org/primer/2025/skariah-2024-0147
L1  - http://journals.stfm.org/media/ju0pvvm5/primer-9-39.pdf
TI  - Quality Over Quantity? Family Medicine Residency Applications in the Postpandemic Era
ER  -