First-year graduate medical education positions obtained by U.S. graduates in 1977.

When the 2,308 residencies obtained by U.S. medical school graduates outisde of th National Intern and Resident Matching Program were added to those of the 11,172 students who matched, the distribution of all 1977 graduates among specialties was found to be essentially the same as for those who matched, but regional differences were marked. A regional comparison of the location of the residencies obtained by the graduates with the location of the schools attended by students suggested that recruitment of graduates from other regions was as important in determining the number of first-year residents as was retention of graduates in a given region.