Comment by metaphor

> There were 147 unfilled slots for pediatricians, 805 for family medicine, and 357 for internal medicine. They don't have the applicants; it's not the slots.

You lost me...from your cite[1]:

  | Specialty         | Positions | Applicants | Matches | App/Pos | Deficit |
  |-------------------|-----------|------------|---------|---------|---------|
  | Pediatrics        |     3,135 |      3,998 |   2,988 |    128% |    4.7% |
  | Family Medicine   |     5,357 |      7,337 |   4,552 |    137% |   15.0% |
  | Internal Medicine |    10,941 |     17,131 |  10,584 |    157% |    3.3% |

I'm curious what conditions merit a "match".

Aren't a lot of these shortages scattered around rural areas where young doctors really don't want to move to? I understand from a buddy who is currently in med school that there are all sorts of incentive carrots being deployed to attract doctors to these underserved communities.

[1] https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Main_Match_R...