IMG Match Data

Match rates for US and Non-US International Medical Graduates, overall and by specialty (NRMP data), plus IMG-friendly specialties.

Overall US vs Non-US IMG Match Rates→

IMG Match Rate by Specialty (2026)

Of the US IMGs and Non-US IMGs who ranked a specialty as their only choice, the percentage who matched. IMGs who also ranked another specialty aren't counted. Where a group has fewer than 10 such applicants, the cell shows how many matched (such as 3 of 4) instead of a percentage; a dash means none.

Not in the table: specialties with fewer than 20 positions, which NRMP omits; specialties no IMG ranked as their only choice; Transitional Year; and Ophthalmology and Urology, which run their own matches. The overall rates below count every active applicant, whatever they ranked, and the MD vs DO rates by specialty count every US senior who ranked at least one of a specialty's programs, so neither compares with these. Each row combines a specialty's PGY-1 and PGY-2 (first and second post-graduate year) programs, including Physician (R) programs for applicants with prior graduate training; Internal Medicine and Pediatrics combine their categorical and primary care positions; and preliminary (one-year) programs get their own (Prelim) rows. Preventive Medicine here is NRMP's Public Health and Preventive Medicine, not the Medicine-Preventive Med track. NRMP's printed Percent Matched is each specialty's share of all matched only-choice IMGs, not this rate; this rate is 100 minus its printed Percent Unmatched, to within rounding. US IMGs are US citizens, and Non-US IMGs non-US citizens, from medical schools outside the United States that the LCME and AOA COCA do not accredit (NRMP's definitions). Source: NRMP Results and Data: 2026 Main Residency Match, Table 12C | nrmp.org

IMG Share of Positions by Specialty (2026)

Not a match rate: the share of each specialty's positions that went to IMGs (US + Non-US), sorted highest first.

Medicine-Preventive Med is a combined internal-medicine track, and its 80% share is 4 of just 5 positions — by volume, Internal Medicine dominates IMG matches (4,508 of 11,194 spots). Source: NRMP 2026 Main Residency Match | nrmp.org

Every Specialty — IMG Matches (2026)

All 72 specialty lines NRMP published for 2026 — US IMG and Non-US IMG matches per specialty, and the share of offered positions that went to IMGs. Sort by any column header; search covers every position type at once. A caution on the extremes: small specialties can post outsized shares from a handful of seats — check the Offered column before reading much into a percentage.

IMG Share = (US IMG + Non-US IMG matches) ÷ positions offered — the same basis as the chart above. Source: NRMP Results and Data: 2026 Main Residency Match, Table 2 | nrmp.org

IMG-Friendly Specialties

Editorial groupings by the share of each specialty's 2026 PGY-1 (first post-graduate year) positions that went to IMGs, as in the share chart and the every-specialty table; Dermatology, whose positions are mostly PGY-2, goes by its PGY-2 share. They do not follow the match rates at the top: a specialty can fill few of its positions with IMGs yet match most of the IMGs who rank it as their only choice. Short names here match the every-specialty table's formal ones (ENT = Otolaryngology; General Surgery = Surgery (Categorical); OB/GYN = Obstetrics-Gynecology; Surgery (Prelim) = Surgery-Preliminary (PGY-1 Only)). Ophthalmology matches through SF Match, outside NRMP's tables, so its placement is editorial. Source: NRMP Results and Data: 2026 Main Residency Match, Table 2 | nrmp.org

IMG Match Rate Trend (2020–⁠2026)

Percentage of active applicants who matched to a PGY-1 (first post-graduate year) position: every IMG who certified a rank order list counts, whatever they ranked (NRMP Table 6).

Source: NRMP 2020–⁠2026 Main Residency Match Reports | nrmp.org

US IMG vs Non-US IMG (2026)

Source: NRMP 2026 Main Residency Match | nrmp.org