The Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians (LAFP) would like to congratulate this year’s medical students on an outstanding Match Day!
On March 20 across the United States, 4,613 medical students matched to family medicine residency programs (categorical and combined).
Match Day is a major milestone for medical students as they prepare to graduate from medical school and transition to the next step of their training in residency. The National Residency Match Program (NRMP) aligns eligible graduating and graduated medical students with residency programs through a process known as The Match.
Family medicine residency programs, positions offered, applicants, and applicants matching to family medicine all continue to increase year after year both nationally and in Louisiana. While we are still short of reaching goals for primary care coverage across the country, these increases in training opportunities along with investments in the primary care workforce and overall pathway are moving us closer to those goals.
National Family Medicine Match Highlights
View a national breakdown of the family medicine match provided by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). A full analysis of the 2026 Match including SOAP outcomes will be available later this spring from the NRMP.
Below are a few highlights from the AAFP’s 2026 Match analysis and the NRMP’s 2026 Main Residency Match Results:
These numbers do not include SOAP outcomes. SOAP outcomes are not published by NRMP until later in the spring, usually May. Ninety-nine percent of family medicine’s open residency spots are typically filled through the SOAP process.
- Family medicine offered 5,512 positions, which is 133 more than in 2025 and 13.4% of positions offered in all specialties.
- 4,613 medical students and graduates matched to family medicine residency programs (categorical and combined) in 2026. The following is a breakdown of those matches:
- 1,512 U.S. allopathic medical school (MD) seniors
- 1,404 U.S. osteopathic medical school (DO) seniors
- 585 U.S. international medical graduates (IMGs)
- 962 non-U.S. IMGs
- 96 previous graduates of U.S. MD-granting schools
- 54 previous graduates of U.S. DO-granting schools
- 848 family medicine categorical programs participated in the 2026 Match, up 31 from 2025 (817).
- The overall fill rate of 83.7% decreased from 85.0% the year prior and was the lowest fill rate since 2006.
- Family medicine had the highest number of programs in the 2026 Match (848), followed by Internal Medicine (Categorical) (788), and Psychiatry (434).
- Family medicine had the second-highest number of positions offered (5,491 – categorical), with internal medicine (categorical) offering the most positions (11,194), and emergency medicine in third (3,198).
The AAFP’s 2026 Match Results for Family Medicine webpage offers an in-depth analysis of the 2026 Match and historical outcomes including trends, data tables, and workforce resources.
Louisiana Family Medicine Match Highlights
Louisiana joins the top eight states across the United States in offering the most training positions in the 2026 Match. Since 2015, Louisiana has greatly increased its number of family medicine programs, positions offered, and applicants matched. Louisiana has grown from 11 programs, 69 positions, and 61 matched applicants in 2015, to the following numbers for the 2026 Match:
These numbers do not include SOAP outcomes. SOAP outcomes are not published by NRMP until later in the spring, usually May. Eighty-seven percent of Louisiana’s family medicine residency spots are typically filled through the Main Match and SOAP process.
- 16 family medicine residency programs participated in the 2026 Match, up 1 from 2025.
- 93 family medicine positions were offered, up 11 from 2025.
- 77 applicants matched to Louisiana family medicine positions in 2026, the lowest match number since 2024. 2025 matched 72 applicants.
- California, Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina, and Washington are the top 10 states in order of number of positions offered. Combined, these states offered 2,935 positions in the 2026 Match – over half of the positions for family medicine.
AAFP Initiative Aims to Make 2027 Match Even Better
Source: AAFP
The number of family medicine positions offered has increased 17 years in a row, but the United States still is projected to need up to 40,400 more primary care physicians by 2036. As the number of family medicine residency programs has increased (from 200 programs in 2012 to more than 800 in 2025) to meet that need, so has the number of programs that were unfilled after the Main Match (from 64 to 288 last year).
The AAFP launched a Residency Selection Improvement Initiative (RSII) in August 2025 to identify improvements that can make the process more effective, efficient, and economical for both applicants and residency programs. One focal point is the number of positions that are unfilled after the Main Match, which rose by 94 slots this year. Those improvements include creating a centralized resource for applicants to find comprehensive information about family medicine residencies by incorporating information from the Academy’s residency directory into the AAMC’s Residency Explorer.
The Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors recently agreed to adopt six RSII’s recommendations for improving the interview process starting with Match 2027. Those changes will be included when new Organization of Program Director Associations guidelines for family medicine applicants and programs are published this spring.
“The fact that we have more unfilled positions does show the importance of RSII,” AAFP Vice President for National Residency and Academic Partnerships Karen Mitchell, MD, FAAFP, said. “We are leading efforts to improve the family medicine residency selection process to make it easier for applicants and programs to find each other. I am proud that the AAFP is fully investing in our future generation of family physicians to make sure that patients across the country have access to primary care.”
The AAFP is also working with policymakers to address physician shortages by securing funding for family medicine residency programs, including the teaching health centers, and strengthening student loan repayment programs, Dr. Mitchell said.
Let Us Know Where You’re Headed!
The LAFP would like to send congratulations to all of our student members who matched last week! We’d like to highlight match stories like yours on our social media, website, and/or in future publications to share with members. If you are interested in being featured, please send the following to
- Name
- Medical School
- Residency program name and state
- What you’re looking forward to in your family medicine career, reflections on your journey to Match Day, or any other thoughts you would like to share
- A photo of you.