The latest data gathered by the AMA and the Association of American Medical Colleges as part of their annual National GME Census offers a snapshot of the thousands of U.S. residency training programs—and the physicians in them.
The data—published in JAMA®—is drawn from a survey of 13,082 residency training programs in the U.S. in 2024–2025, relaying information about 162,264 active residents. Of them, 41,242 were PGY-1 resident physicians and 37,956 were PGY-1 resident physicians without prior graduate medical education (GME). Of the residents, 82.6% were in specialty programs and the remaining 17.4% were in subspecialties.
“These data help us understand the capacity and distribution of graduate medical education in the United States,” said John Andrews, MD, the AMA’s vice president for graduate medical education innovations. In his role with the AMA, Dr. Andrews has helped lead the Reimagining Residency initiative to transform residency training to best address the workplace needs of our current and future health care system.
Which specialties have the most residents
The top 10 specialties and subspecialties with the greatest number of resident physicians were, in order:
- Internal medicine: 32,912 residents.
- Family medicine: 15,221.
- General surgery: 10,741.
- Pediatrics: 9,488.
- Emergency medicine: 9,292.
- Psychiatry: 8,210.
- Anesthesiology: 7,522.
- Obstetrics and gynecology: 5,996.
- Radiology—diagnostic: 4,479.
- Orthopaedic surgery: 4,437.
The full dataset with this and many other points of interest is available in JAMA., including information about which physician specialties have the biggest gender imbalances. AMA members can explore an entire range of cutting-edge, peer-reviewed research and clinical information. The JAMA Network™ is a world-class resource for the whole medical community. If you are a member or interested in becoming one, learn how to access these educational materials and innovative tools.
Top 10 specialties with most U.S. MDs
The JAMA study also details residents’ undergraduate medical education. The residents included in the survey obtained their medical degrees in the following ways:
- 57.2% were U.S. MDs.
- 24.2% were international medical graduates (IMGs), either U.S. citizens or otherwise.
- 18.5% were U.S. DOs.
- 0.1% obtained degrees from Canadian medical schools.
Of the specialties with more than 100 residency programs (not including subspecialties), the 10 with the highest distribution of U.S. MDs were:
- Orthopaedic surgery: 84.3% MDs.
- Otolaryngology—head and neck surgery: 92.4%.
- Dermatology: 87%.
- Ophthalmology: 91.7%.
- Neurological surgery: 90.3%.
- Urology: 89.1%.
- Interventional radiology (integrated): 82.1%.
- Obstetrics and gynecology: 76.4%.
- Anesthesiology: 73.6%.
- Diagnostic radiology:73.4%.
- General surgery: 71%.
- Transitional year: 62.8%.
- Psychiatry: 62.6%.
For medical students and others looking ahead to the 2026–2027 residency-application cycle, FREIDA™, the AMA Residency and Fellowship Database®, includes information on more than 13,000 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited residency programs and offers a streamlined user experience.
Resident physicians’ citizenship and visa status
The JAMA survey also includes information on where resident physicians were born, as well as their citizenship and visa status.
The programs surveyed reported that, of their residents, 71.8% were born U.S. citizens, while 5.8% were naturalized citizens and 3.6% were permanent U.S. residents. Meanwhile, 7.1% were J-1 or J-2 exchange visitors, and 1.8% were reported to be H-1, H-1B, H-2 or H-3 temporary workers.
Of the residents who were IMGs without prior U.S. GME, 25% were U.S. citizens, 6.5% were permanent U.S. residents, 33.7% were not U.S. citizens and 34.8% were born outside the U.S., but of unknown citizenship.
Consult the AMA Road to Residency Guide to successfully plan your path to residency, from researching programs and excelling at interviews to navigating Match Day and more.
