Daniel A. Rauch, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, Hackensack, NJ, United States; Esther Kaplun, Rowan Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine, New York, NY, United States
Professor of Pediatrics Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine Hackensack, New Jersey, United States
Background: The 2025 Pediatric Match showed improvement over the 2024 Match in total positions filled. However, the total number and percent of spots filled by US allopathic graduates (USMDs) declined as it has for most of the last decade. Students ranking residencies take into account many factors such as program specifics and life issues such as geography, needs of a significant other, and possibly reproductive rights. The 2025 Match was the 3rd since the Dobbs case overturned Roe and the subsequent institution of abortion restrictions or bans in many states (fig.1). Objective: To see if there were any differences in Match rates for USMDs in states with abortion restrictions (Res) versus states without any restriction (NoRes). Design/Methods: We used publicly available Match data by state in the years 2015, 2022 (the last year before Dobbs), and 2025 to look at trends of USMD filled residency spots in Res and NoRes states. Data was compared using Chi squared test and p-values of <.05 were considered significant. Pediatric data was compared to Family Medicine (FM), Internal Medicine (IM) and OB as other primary care, female predominant specialties. Results: USMDs matching in pediatrics dropped significantly from 2015 to 2022 and then 2025. There was no significant difference in USMD overall fill rates to pediatrics in 2015 and 2025 between Res and NoRes states. FM, IM and OB all also had decreased USMD Match rates over time and all three now have significantly lower USMD match % in Res states (table 1).
Conclusion(s): This data only suggests an association of decreased fill rates by USMDs in states with abortion restrictions in primary care fields and does not show causality. It does raise the question of whether potential residents among USMDs are considering issues such as abortion access in their rank preferences, especially when programs are becoming less competitive. The impact on the OB match is probably also related to the change in training exposure. The next step will be to look at this issue by gender. We acknowledge that this is a politically hot topic and including questions about this in national surveys may be difficult, however, assessing the impact of societal factors can help programs better direct efforts to address shortfalls in filling with USMDs.
