Graduate medical education viewed from the national intern and resident matching program.

The total number of applicants for first-year programs in graduate medical education through the National Intern and Resident Matching Program in 1976 exceeded the number of positions offered for the second consecutive year. The number of positions available for U.S. medical school graduates in 1976 was approximately 1.22. Based on student preferences for their first-year graduate medical education programs, there were deficits in the number of openings offered in the primary care specialties and surfeits in medical and surgical subspecialties, pathology, psychiatry, and radiology.