Are you wondering how to match into family medicine? Or how many family medicine residency programs are there? Do you want to know everything there is about family medicine residency interviews? Need to know how many interviews to match in family medicine?
In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to match into family medicine.
Summary:
- Family medicine is less competitive, in part due to having so many programs and positions available
- In part due to the volume of applications, family medicine residency programs use standardized screens to “weed out” applicants
- The most successful applicants won’t fail any USMLE, have good USMLE scores, a stellar MSPE, and demonstrate lots of interest in programs
- Historically, most family medicine interview invites occur before October 31, and the vast majority before November 31
Table of Contents
How Competitive is it to Match into Family Medicine?
How competitive is it to match into family medicine in the US? Here we have the unmatched % for US seniors by specialty. The “Unmatched %” means the % of US seniors who applied into family medicine who did not match during the given year.
This is one measure of specialty competitiveness – perhaps the most relevant if you want to match into family medicine.
For more on the competitiveness of family medicine relative to other medical specialties, see this article.
How Many Family Medicine Residency Programs Are There?
Before we discuss how many family medicine residency programs there are in the US, let’s review some terminology. For many specialized residency programs (e.g., anesthesiology, dermatology, radiology, radiation oncology, etc.), the specialty training begins during their second year of residency. This second year is also known as the PGY-2 (post-graduate year 2, for the second year after graduating from medical school).
Categorical vs. Advanced vs. Physician Family Medicine Programs
Most programs have three different kinds of residency programs applicants can potentially enter: categorical, advanced, and physician (R).
Categorical refers to programs that include all years of residency training. Family medicine residency lasts three years and only offers this categorical route.
Some other specialties, however, require applicants to match separately into an intern year. These programs, which begin in the PGY-2 years, are referred to as “advanced” positions.
Finally, for others who have already completed at least a year of residency training, they may be eligible for a “physician” position in some specialty programs. These positions allow applicants to move directly into the PGY-2 specialty training and skip the PGY-1 year. This arrangement may be ideal for those who want to complete residency sooner and not have to repeat an intern year.
How Many Family Medicine Residency Programs and Positions Are There?
In the 2022 NRMP Match, there were:
- 745 Family Medicine programs offering 4,916 PGY-1 (categorical) positions,
- 0 Family Medicine programs offering 0 PGY-2 (advanced) positions, and
- 0 Family Medicine programs offering 0 Physician (R) positions
Thus, the total number of Family Medicine residency positions in 2022 was 4,916, and there were 745 Family Medicine programs in 2022.
See the 2022 Main Residency Match Results and Data for more information on family medicine match statistics.
How to Match into Family Medicine: Impressing Program Directors
To match into family medicine, you must first be invited to interview. According to the most recent program director (PD) survey from 2021, PDs shared what they look for in candidates they hope to interview.
For family medicine, the top five most important characteristics for receiving an interview, according to program directors, were:
- USMLE Step 1 score
- MSPE
- USMLE Step 2 CK score
- Grades in required clerkships
- Any failed USMLE attempt
The same data are presented more fully in a table. Here you will see the % of program director respondents who cited a factor as important for granting an interview, as well as the mean importance score (out of 5).
To balance the breadth of program directors citing each factor with the importance given to each factor, a “composite score” was created. This composite score takes the average of the % respondents citing a factor with the importance score scaled to 100%. For example, if 80% of PDs cited a given factor, with a mean importance score of 5.0 (out of 5), the composite score would be 90%. (The average of 80% of PDs citing with 5/5 – or 100% – for the mean importance, for a composite score of 90%).
| Family Medicine: Characteristics Considered in Deciding Whom to INTERVIEW (% of Respondents Endorsing) | Family Medicine: Characteristics Considered in Deciding Whom to INTERVIEW (Mean Importance / 5) | Family Medicine: Characteristics Considered for Interview Composite Score (Average of % Respondents Endorsing and Mean Importance / 5) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| USMLE Step 1 Score | 75.5% | 3.3 | 91.8% |
| MSPE | 86.8% | 3.8 | 86.0% |
| USMLE Step 2 CK Score | 75.5% | 3.6 | 81.4% |
| Grades in Required Clerkships | 64.2% | 3.6 | 81.2% |
| Any Failed USMLE Attempt | 79.2% | 3.9 | 81.2% |
| Class Ranking/Quartile | 51.6% | 3.4 | 79.8% |
| Grades in Clerkship in Preferred Specialty | 50.3% | 3.8 | 79.3% |
| Any Failed COMLEX-USA Attempt | 78.6% | 4 | 78.8% |
| Consistency of Grades | 53.5% | 3.6 | 78.6% |
| COMLEX-USA Level 1 score | 73.0% | 3.3 | 78.1% |
| Awards/Honors in Clinical Clerkships | 41.5% | 3.3 | 75.3% |
| COMLEX-USA Level 2 CE Score | 71.1% | 3.5 | 73.8% |
| AOA Membership | 25.8% | 3.3 | 72.7% |
| GHHS Membership | 35.8% | 3.4 | 70.8% |
| Passing USMLE Step 2 CS | 46.5% | 3.7 | 70.6% |
| Awards/Honors, Clerkship in Preferred Specialty | 30.8% | 3.4 | 69.8% |
| Continuous Medical Education w/o Gaps | 59.1% | 3.8 | 69.5% |
| Medical School Accreditation Status | 53.5% | 4.3 | 69.5% |
| Medical School Reputation | 30.2% | 3.7 | 69.3% |
| Passing COMLEX-USA Level 2 PE | 44.7% | 3.7 | 68.1% |
| Awards/Honors in Basic Sciences | 11.3% | 2.7 | 67.9% |
| Sigma Sigma Phi Membership | 16.4% | 3.2 | 67.6% |
| USMLE Step 3 Score | 14.5% | 3 | 66.6% |
| COMLEX-USA Level 3 Score | 11.3% | 2.8 | 63.2% |
| How Medical School Handled Virtual Rotations | 6.9% | 3.5 | 62.8% |
| Letters of Recommendation in Specialty | 84.3% | 3.9 | 61.5% |
| Personal Statement (Overall) | 89.9% | 4.1 | 60.6% |
| Diversity Characteristics | 75.5% | 4.1 | 60.5% |
| Perceived Commitment to Specialty | 95.6% | 4.4 | 60.3% |
| Having Overcome Significant Obstacles | 76.1% | 4 | 59.8% |
| Professionalism and Ethics | 72.3% | 4.5 | 59.4% |
| Perceived Interest in Program | 75.5% | 4.2 | 53.8% |
| Leadership Qualities | 65.4% | 4 | 52.1% |
| Volunteer/Extracurricular Experience | 62.9% | 3.8 | 51.9% |
| Personal Prior Knowledge of Applicant | 68.6% | 4.1 | 49.4% |
| Other Life Experience | 57.2% | 3.8 | 45.9% |
| Audition Elective/Rotation in PD's Dept | 56.6% | 4.1 | 40.2% |
| Involvement and Interest in Research | 10.7% | 2.7 | 38.7% |
| Ability to Work Legally w/o Visa | 49.7% | 4.3 | 38.5% |
| Visa Status | 40.9% | 4.1 | 37.3% |
| Fluency in Language of Pt Population | 47.2% | 3.7 | 33.7% |
| NRMP Flag for Match Violation | 28.9% | 4.6 | 33.1% |
| Interest in Academic Career | 8.2% | 2.9 | 32.7% |
| Away Rotation in Specialty Elsewhere | 9.4% | 3.4 | 32.4% |
Here are the composite scores for the criteria family medicine program directors use for grading interviews.
What Do Family Medicine Program Directors Look for When Ranking Applicants?
Getting an interview is only part of the process of matching into family medicine. Program directors also rank the most important factors for creating their rank order list.
In the 2021 Program Director Survey, family medicine PDs rated these criteria as most important for deciding whom to rank:
- USMLE Step 1 score
- MSPE
- USMLE Step 2 CK score
- Class ranking/quartile
- Any failed USMLE attempt
We can see the full list here:
| Family Medicine: Characteristics Considered in Deciding Whom to RANK (% of Respondents Endorsing) | Family Medicine: Characteristics Considered in Deciding Whom to RANK (Mean Importance / 5) | Family Medicine: Characteristics Considered for Rank Composite Score (Average of % Respondents Endorsing and Mean Importance / 5) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| USMLE Step 1 Score | 51.6% | 3.4 | 90.6% |
| MSPE | 61.0% | 3.6 | 89.5% |
| USMLE Step 2 CK Score | 57.2% | 3.8 | 86.2% |
| Class Ranking/Quartile | 31.4% | 3.6 | 85.8% |
| Any Failed USMLE Attempt | 52.2% | 3.4 | 85.8% |
| Grades in Required Clerkships | 30.2% | 3.8 | 76.4% |
| COMLEX-USA Level 2 CE Score | 55.3% | 3.7 | 74.3% |
| COMLEX-USA Level 1 score | 49.7% | 3.6 | 72.7% |
| Any Failed COMLEX-USA Attempt | 51.6% | 3.7 | 71.4% |
| Grades in Clerkship in Preferred Specialty | 22.6% | 3.3 | 69.7% |
| Consistency of Grades | 25.2% | 3.7 | 66.8% |
| AOA Membership | 10.7% | 3.6 | 66.6% |
| GHHS Membership | 20.8% | 3.7 | 66.5% |
| Continuous Medical Education w/o Gaps | 37.1% | 3.8 | 66.4% |
| Passing USMLE Step 2 CS | 22.0% | 3.6 | 65.4% |
| Awards/Honors, Clerkship in Preferred Specialty | 15.7% | 3.7 | 64.7% |
| Awards/Honors in Clinical Clerkships | 18.2% | 3.4 | 64.1% |
| Medical School Reputation | 17.0% | 3.7 | 62.8% |
| Medical School Accreditation Status | 27.0% | 3.6 | 61.7% |
| Passing COMLEX-USA Level 2 PE | 20.1% | 3.4 | 61.3% |
| Sigma Sigma Phi Membership | 8.8% | 3.6 | 60.9% |
| Awards/Honors in Basic Sciences | 8.2% | 4.2 | 60.1% |
| USMLE Step 3 Score | 8.8% | 3.4 | 59.8% |
| COMLEX-USA Level 3 Score | 6.9% | 2.6 | 57.9% |
| How Medical School Handled Virtual Rotations | 6.3% | 3.2 | 57.4% |
| Interpersonal Skills | 87.1% | 4.7 | 56.6% |
| Interactions with Faculty During Interview/Visit | 84.9% | 4.7 | 56.3% |
| Feedback from Current Residents | 79.5% | 4.6 | 54.4% |
| Interactions with House Staff During Interview/Visit | 77.5% | 4.7 | 53.1% |
| Diversity Characteristics | 65.4% | 4 | 51.7% |
| Perceived Commitment to Specialty | 82.4% | 4.5 | 49.6% |
| Letters of Recommendation in Specialty | 54.1% | 3.7 | 49.5% |
| Perceived Interest in Program | 64.8% | 4.4 | 47.4% |
| Personal Statement | 66.7% | 3.8 | 47.4% |
| Professionalism and Ethics | 58.5% | 4.5 | 47.0% |
| Leadership Qualities | 52.8% | 4 | 46.1% |
| Having Overcome Significant Obstacles | 53.5% | 4 | 45.9% |
| Personal Prior Knowledge of Applicant | 55.3% | 4.2 | 45.5% |
| Other Life Experience | 45.3% | 3.9 | 44.9% |
| Volunteer/Extracurricular Experience | 46.5% | 3.8 | 44.3% |
| Audition Elective/Rotation in PD's Dept | 42.8% | 4.4 | 44.1% |
| Involvement and Interest in Research | 7.5% | 2.9 | 44.1% |
| Fluency in Language of Patient Population | 36.5% | 3.8 | 43.4% |
| Ability to Work Legally w/o Visa | 25.8% | 4.5 | 43.1% |
| Other Post-Interview Contact | 20.7% | 3.7 | 41.4% |
| Interest in Academic Career | 5.7% | 3.5 | 40.4% |
| NRMP Flag for Match Violation | 20.8% | 4.7 | 38.4% |
| Visa Status | 20.8% | 4.4 | 37.9% |
| Applicant Facility with Meeting Platform Tech | 12.7% | 3.7 | 35.2% |
| Away Rotation in Specialty Elsewhere | 5.7% | 4.3 | 32.8% |
| Second Interview/Visit | 8.1% | 4 | 29.5% |
Finally, we can see the composite scores for criteria used to rank family medicine applicants.
What Characteristics Do Successful Family Medicine Applicants Share?
Here are the characteristics of matched vs. unmatched US seniors applying to family medicine.
| Matched | Unmatched | |
|---|---|---|
| Mean number of contiguous ranks, US Senior | 13.7 | 4.1 |
| Mean number of distinct specialties ranked, US Senior | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| Step 1, US Senior | 225 | 211 |
| Step 2, US Senior | 241 | 228 |
| Mean number of research experiences, US Senior | 2.4 | 1.9 |
| Mean number of abstracts, presentations, and publications, US Senior | 4.1 | 2.6 |
| Mean number of work experiences, US Senior | 3.6 | 2.5 |
| Mean number of volunteer experiences, US Senior | 8.3 | 5.5 |
| Percentage who are AOA members, US Senior | 9.8 | 0 |
| Percentage who graduated from one of the 40 U.S. medical schools with the highest NIH funding, US Senior | 26.3 | 19 |
| Percentage who have Ph.D. degree, US Senior | 0.8 | 0 |
| Percentage who have another graduate degree, US Senior | 18.3 | 26.3 |
Match Into Family Medicine: Pass the Screens with High USMLEs
Family Medicine relies on standardized screens to weed out applicants. In the 2021 Program Director Survey, family medicine PDs respondents reported that 57% of applications were rejected via standardized screen. This ranked in the top of residencies.
What Are the Step 1 and Step 2 CK Cut-Offs for Interviews in Family Medicine?
As mentioned above, family medicine ranks near the top of programs using standardized screens to eliminate applications. Many family medicine programs screen out applicants with failed USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK (see below). In addition, PDs use Step 1 and Step 2 CK score cut-offs to weed out applicants.
For Step 1, family medicine program directors reported Step 1 score cut-offs between 200 and 210 as 25% and 75%ile marks to screen out applicants.
Similarly, family medicine program directors reported Step 2 CK scores between 200 and 220 as 25% and 75%ile cut-offs.
For more on the USMLE cut-off scores for granting interviews – or weeding out applicants – see this article.
If I Fail Step 1, Can I Still Match Into Family Medicine?
If you failed Step 1, you might wonder if you can still match into family medicine. In the most recent program director survey addressing this question, we can see that family medicine programs are seen to be forgiving if you’ve failed Step 1.
In 2020, family medicine 55% of PDs reported they “seldom” consider applicants who fail Step 1, while 45% of family medicine programs “often” consider someone with a step 1 fail. This shows that those applicants who did not pass step one still had an opportunity to be considered.
Did you fail Step 1 and are wondering what you can do to recover? Read this article and consider scheduling a consultation.
If I Fail Step 2 CK, Can I Still Match Into Family Medicine?
Similarly, you may wonder what your chances of matching into family medicine are if you fail Step 2 CK. Just like with Step 1, family medicine PDs are relatively forgiving for not passing Step 2 CK.
In 2020, family medicine only 5% of PDs reported they “never” consider applicants who fail Step 2 CK, while 66% would “seldom” consider it. And about 29% of family medicine programs “often” consider someone with a Step 2 CK fail.
Did you fail Step 2 CK and wonder what you can do to recover? Read this article and consider scheduling a consultation.
How Many Publications for Family Medicine Residency in 2022
Research is an important characteristic for matching into many specialties, particularly the most competitive. So, how many publications do you need to match into a family medicine residency?
In 2022, the mean number of abstracts, presentations, and publications for US seniors who matched into family medicine was 4.1. The mean number of research experiences was 2.4.
Do I Need an MD-PhD to Become a Family Medicine Specialist?
You may wonder how much an MD-PhD helps with matching into family medicine. It appears that having a PhD correlates with a modest advantage of 2% when applying into family medicine. Specifically, the match rate for those with a PhD is 2% higher than for those without one when applying into family medicine.
Note that those with PhDs are relatively rare among family medicine residents. In fact, only 0.8% of matched applicants into family medicine had a PhD in 2022.
Family Medicine Residency Interviews
When you apply to family medicine, you may be wondering what the chances of getting an interview are. Here we present the outcomes of applicants per the 2021 NRMP Program Director Survey.
Note that family medicine uses standardized screens to reduce the number of applicants. Roughly 57% of applicants that year were eliminated via a screen (e.g., Step 2 CK scores, visa status, failed a USMLE in the past, etc.).
When Are Family Medicine Residency Interview Invites Sent vs. Conducted?
When you apply to residency, you’ll be doing a lot of waiting. Specifically, you’ll be waiting to hear whether – and when – you will be able to interview.
Want to know when you might expect to hear from family medicine programs re: your residency application? Here are when programs typically extend and conduct interviews. Note that the most recent data are from 2020.
Here are the same data presented differently. Note that due to rounding, sometimes the percentages can add up to more than 100%.
How Many Interviews to Match in Family Medicine?
How many interviews to match in family medicine with confidence? For US Seniors, the magic number of interviews needed to match into family medicine starts from the first interview. In 2022, having even one interview (and ranking them on their match list) led to a >84% chance of matching. For even greater safety, though, having 7+ interviews led to a ≥95% chance of matching into family medicine for US seniors.
How Many Interviews to Match in Family Medicine as a DO?
For DO seniors, considerably more interviews were necessary to match into family medicine comfortably. To get to the 75% threshold, ≥ 3 interviews were needed. To reach the 100% threshold, 10+ interviews were needed in 2022.
How Many Interviews to Match in Family Medicine as an IMG?
Similar to DOs, more interviews were necessary for IMGs to comfortably match into family medicine. To reach the 75% threshold, ≥6 interviews were necessary. Note that because of so few candidates with ≥ 9 interviews, the numbers become considerably “noisier,” and can’t be interpreted with much confidence. This is particularly true since only ten matched successfully of the 16 non-US IMGs with 16+ interviews.
Concluding Thoughts
Matching into family medicine is a challenging proposition. The challenge may feel more daunting if we have perceived weaknesses in our application, or if we want to match in a top program, a desirable location, and/or couples match.
The good news? How to match into family medicine depends largely on things you can control – your USMLEs, your clinical performance/MSPEs, whether you fail Step 1 or Step 2 CK, and how much interest you show to programs.
Looking for a Family Medicine Residency Advisor?
Looking for a family medicine residency advisor? Want help writing your personal statement? Need effective strategies for interviewing? Do you have things on your application – e.g., low USMLE scores, failed USMLEs, no research, IMG status, or others – you need help overcoming?
Be sure to check out our Residency Advisor service.
