Why Are Emergency Medicine Residents Disappearing?
— How our healthcare system is financed is a central part of the problem
by N. Adam Brown, MD, MBA March 20, 2023
The numberopens of unfilled emergency medicine (EM) residency positions in this year's initial Match hit a record: 555. In 2022, there were 219 unmatched positions. Most observers considered last year's number, which was also unprecedented at the time, part of a pandemic hangover.
They were wrong.
What was once a highly sought after specialty is now not. U.S. medical students applying to accredited EM residencies declined 16.8% from 2021 to 2022. In 2023, EM applicants fell another 18.1%. As a board-certified, practicing EM physician, these statistics alarm me.
