More Med School Seniors Seek Primary Care Residency

The increased interest in residencies for internal medicine, family medicine or pediatrics may, in part, be the result of increased competition for specialty slots.

Medpage Today: Specialty Slot Contest Good For Primary Care?
More U.S. medical school seniors chose a primary care residency this year, but that may be driven by increased competition for specialty programs as the applicant pool widens, some experts say. Almost 400 more students opted for a residency in internal medicine, family medicine, or pediatrics this year than last, according to the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). … The total number of applicants topped 40,000 this year. That's the largest figure in Match history and includes nearly 1,000 more U.S. seniors as three new medical schools -- two in Florida, one in Pennsylvania -- graduated their first classes (Fiore, 3/17).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Matchmaker, Er, Match Week, Make Me A Doc
Fourth-year medical students have been talking a lot about their perfect match these days: first impressions, the one who called right after they met, some that were too far away. For many, 'match week' – this week — is what they've been working toward over the past four years. It's the week that decides if, and where, they will complete the next step of their training and become a full-fledged doctor (Rao, 3/15).