In my “Administrative Update” column last year, I felt that Some Good News would be quite welcome as we all navigated the uncharted waters of the initial weeks of the pandemic (ASA Monitor 2020;84:4). Even though there is considerably more reason for optimism as I write this column (May, 2021), I will assume that Good News remains welcome.
Building upon our specialty's unprecedented success in the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) last year, we have attained even greater heights in the 2021 Match. In 2020, a mere 11 anesthesiology residency spots went unfilled across Categorical (“C,” PGY-1), Advanced (“A,” PGY-2 for July 2022), and Reserved (“R,” PGY-2 for July 2021) matches. In 2021, there were just three unfilled C positions and one R position that were unfilled; all of our specialty's A positions were filled.
The total number of applicants matched in our specialty increased slightly this year...
