Match Day 2025: Family Medicine Sets Another Milestone

Family Medicine Match by the Numbers

Family medicine categorical and combined programs offered a record 5,379 positions, up 148 compared with a year ago. A record 817 family medicine programs offered positions this year, with a fill rate of 85%. Family medicine accounted for 86% of the primary care positions offered and 84% of primary care positions filled. The United States is projected to need up to 48,000 more primary care physicians by 2034.

“I’m excited to see that the main Match numbers are relatively steady,” Mitchell said, “and we’re showing overall growth in family medicine. That’s important. The number of positions offered is going in the right direction to meet our country’s primary care needs.”

Of the students and graduates who filled family medicine slots in the main Match reported by the NRMP:

• US seniors from allopathic medical schools accounted for 1,519 positions, down from 1,535 in 2024

• Seniors from osteopathic medical schools accounted for 1,486 positions, down from 1,493

• International medical students and graduates (including 626 US citizens) accounted for 1,427 positions, down from 1,455

• Previous graduates of US allopathic schools and osteopathic schools accounted for a total of 142 positions, up from 112

A more in-depth look at the 2025 numbers is available in the AAFP’s Match results analysis at https://www.aafp.org/students-residents/residency-program-directors/national-resident-matching-program-results.html.

AAFP Advocacy

The Academy’s advocacy has helped increase the number of family medicine positions offered by more than 100 in 4 of the past 5 years.

The AAFP’s Board of Directors continued this effort on Capitol Hill on Feb. 26, meeting with more than 40 congressional and Senate offices on workforce and other issues vital to family medicine. In March, Board Chair Steven Furr, MD, FAAFP; President Jen Brull, MD, FAAFP; and President-elect Sarah Nosal, MD, FAAFP, were back in Washington, DC, to talk with members of Congress and congressional staff about topics including permanently authorizing—and funding—the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program, which is vital to building the primary care workforce.

Family Medicine Champions Program

To help drive higher fill rates for family medicine in the main Match—an outcome that family medicine program directors, the Academy, and other stakeholders are working toward—Mitchell encouraged family physicians to participate in the Family Medicine Champions program. The AAFP launched this free, self-paced certificate program 2 years ago to support those who influence students to choose family medicine.

The program trains participants to be ambassadors for family medicine and to educate aspiring health care workers about the opportunities available in the specialty. Information, including a link to register by July 31 for the class that starts in August, is available at https://www.aafp.org/fmchampions.

“Students need to see the joy of family medicine through relationships with family physicians,” Mitchell said. “One way to get involved is to be a Family Medicine Champion, reach out to students, at any stage of their career pathway, in your communities and learn skills to help put more students on a path to join our specialty.”

The AAFP recently launched a campaign, with a hub at https://info.aafp.org/aafp-student-recruitment, to show 1st- and 2nd-year medical students how they can transform communities and create meaningful, long-term doctor-patient relationships in family medicine. The Academy also supports a nationwide network of family medicine interest groups and has created a partnership to expose students to the specialty as early as high school.

The AAFP, in collaboration with the Association of Departments of Family Medicine and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, also offers a best practices guide at https://www.aafp.org/dam/AAFP/documents/medical_education_residency/general/Best%20Practice%20Guide_Strategic%20Planning%20to%20Increase%20Student%20Choice%20of%20Family%20Medicine.pdf for medical schools with evidence-based strategies to increase their rate of graduating family physicians.

What’s Next