IMG Match Data
2026 NRMP match rates for US and Non-US International Medical Graduates, IMG-friendly specialty breakdowns, and multi-year trends.
IMG Share of Positions by Specialty (2026)
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.
PGY-1 = positions starting at intern year. PGY-2 = advanced positions starting after a preliminary/transitional year. Physician (R) = reserved for applicants with prior graduate medical education.
| Medicine-Preventive Med | 80.0% | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Pediatrics-Primary | 55.9% | 1 | 32 | 59 | 55 |
| Neurodevelopmental Disabilities | 42.9% | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 |
| Internal Medicine (Categorical) | 40.3% | 1,060 | 3,448 | 11,194 | 10,657 |
| Pathology | 34.6% | 50 | 170 | 636 | 634 |
| Medicine-Medical Genetics | 33.3% | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Medicine-Primary | 31.1% | 31 | 105 | 438 | 421 |
| Pediatrics (Categorical) | 28.7% | 213 | 684 | 3,126 | 2,951 |
| Family Medicine | 28.2% | 585 | 962 | 5,491 | 4,592 |
| Pediatrics-Medical Genetics | 25.8% | 2 | 6 | 31 | 27 |
| Psychiatry-Neurology | 25.0% | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Surgery-Preliminary (PGY-1 Only) | 24.0% | 72 | 218 | 1,207 | 664 |
| Neurology | 22.3% | 49 | 175 | 1,003 | 999 |
| Pediatrics-Preliminary | 20.0% | 3 | 2 | 25 | 25 |
| Child Neurology | 18.0% | 9 | 29 | 211 | 205 |
| Radiology-Diagnostic | 17.3% | 8 | 19 | 156 | 148 |
| Radiation Oncology | 16.7% | 0 | 2 | 12 | 12 |
| Psychiatry | 15.9% | 177 | 222 | 2,516 | 2,451 |
| Emergency Medicine | 12.9% | 319 | 93 | 3,198 | 3,058 |
| Pediatrics-Emergency Med | 12.5% | 0 | 1 | 8 | 7 |
| Surgery (Categorical) | 11.8% | 85 | 128 | 1,807 | 1,804 |
| Medicine-Preliminary (PGY-1 Only) | 11.3% | 48 | 129 | 1,565 | 1,430 |
| Transitional (PGY-1 Only) | 10.4% | 92 | 110 | 1,937 | 1,746 |
| Emergency Med-Internal Med | 8.8% | 2 | 1 | 34 | 33 |
| Interventional Radiology (Integrated) | 8.6% | 3 | 3 | 70 | 66 |
| Anesthesiology | 7.4% | 56 | 82 | 1,865 | 1,865 |
| Dermatology | 6.5% | 1 | 1 | 31 | 31 |
| Vascular Surgery (Integrated) | 6.4% | 3 | 4 | 110 | 110 |
| Neurological Surgery | 6.1% | 2 | 15 | 280 | 280 |
| Obstetrics-Gynecology | 5.9% | 51 | 45 | 1,638 | 1,636 |
| Medicine-Pediatrics | 5.4% | 8 | 14 | 404 | 404 |
| Thoracic Surgery (Integrated) | 5.4% | 1 | 2 | 56 | 56 |
| OB/GYN-Preliminary (PGY-1 Only) | 4.8% | 1 | 0 | 21 | 10 |
| Medicine-Psychiatry | 3.7% | 1 | 0 | 27 | 27 |
| Peds/Psych/Child Psych | 3.3% | 0 | 1 | 30 | 30 |
| Otolaryngology | 3.2% | 5 | 8 | 403 | 402 |
| Physical Medicine & Rehab | 3.2% | 3 | 5 | 253 | 253 |
| Plastic Surgery (Integrated) | 2.6% | 1 | 5 | 230 | 228 |
| Orthopaedic Surgery | 1.0% | 5 | 5 | 963 | 963 |
| Dermatology-Internal Med | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| Emergency Med-Aerospace Medicine | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Emergency Med-Anesthesiology | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Emergency Med-Family Med | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Osteo Neuromusculoskeletal Med | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 27 | 12 |
| Pediatrics-Anesthesiology | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| Pediatrics-P M & R | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Psychiatry-Family Medicine | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Medicine-Aerospace Medicine | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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
Most IMG-Friendly
Moderately IMG-Friendly
Competitive for IMGs
Very Competitive for IMGs
Editorial groupings, informed by 2026 NRMP IMG PGY-1 (first post-graduate year) fill rates. Specialties without a bar in the chart are grouped by their IMG shares in the full table above — short names here match the table's formal ones (ENT = Otolaryngology; General Surgery = Surgery (Categorical); OB/GYN = Obstetrics and Gynecology). Ophthalmology (SF Match) is placed using external data. Source: NRMP Advance Data Tables 2026 | nrmp.org
IMG Match Rate Trend (2020–2026)
70.0%
US IMG Rate (2026)
56.4%
Non-US IMG Rate (2026)
9,682
IMGs Matched (PGY-1)
Source: NRMP 2020–2026 Main Residency Match Reports | nrmp.org
US IMG vs Non-US IMG (2026)
| Metric | US IMG | Non-US IMG |
|---|---|---|
| Match Rate | 70.0% | 56.4% |
| Active Applicants | 4,210 | 11,944 |
| Matched (PGY-1) | 2,949 | 6,733 |
| Unmatched | 30.0% | 43.6% |
| #1 Specialty | Internal Medicine | Internal Medicine |
| #2 Specialty | Family Medicine | Family Medicine |
| #3 Specialty | Emergency Medicine | Pediatrics |
| Share of All PGY-1 Matches | 7.7% | 17.6% |
Source: NRMP 2026 Main Residency Match | nrmp.org
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