Graduate medical education in the United States.

The annual surveys of residency programs on which this report is based have had a higher than 90% response rate for the past 5 years. The count of available residency positions is a fluid entity and seems to be dependent on many factors, including funding and the number of qualified candidates seen by program directors. The number of GY-1 positions has not changed significantly during the past 3 years. The number of reported unfilled positions, including GY-1 unfilled positions, has increased each year since 1985. The total number of residents on duty decreased slightly in 1988. This decrease may be due to a lower response rate. The number of new entry residents (GY-1) has been decreasing since 1985. Thirty-nine percent of residents were training in family practice, internal medicine, or pediatrics. The number and percent of women in residency programs have remained steady. The percentage of FMG residents decreased slightly to 15.3% in 1988. The number of black non-Hispanic residents decreased in 1988, and the percentage of all residents who are black decreased slightly. The number of graduates of osteopathic medical schools in ACGME programs has increased 39% since 1986. The number of institutions involved in graduate medical education has not changed significantly during the past 3 years, although the number of institutions that are not hospitals has increased since 1983. Ninety-five percent of all types of institutions have some type of affiliation with a US medical school.