Policy & Public Affairs
Match Day for Nephrology
The first match in nephrology took place Wednesday, June 18, 2008. The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Specialties Matching Service (SMS) provides an impartial venue for matching the preferences of training programs and applicants. According to NRMP, 142 nephrology fellowship programs participated in SMS. Nearly 90% or 127 programs filled to capacity, with 95%, or 348 of a possible 367 positions, filled.
In spring 2007, nephrology fellowship training program directors voted to participate in the NRMP SMS for fellowship positions that begin in July 2009. The available fellowship positions were split into four separate tracks: research (general), basic science research, clinical research, and clinical (with no formal research year).
The NRMP SMS statistics by the four tracks are as follows:
| Nephrology Tracks |
Number of Participating Programs |
Number of Programs Filled |
Number of Positions Available |
Number of Positions Filled |
| Clinical |
114 |
104 (91%) |
305 |
291 (95%) |
| Research (general) |
16 |
13 (81%) |
42 |
39 (93%) |
| Clinical Research |
6 |
5 (83%) |
13 |
12 (92%) |
| Basic Science Research |
6 |
5 (83%) |
7 |
6 (86%) |
| Total |
142 |
127 (89%) |
367 |
348 (95%) |
The table below illustrates the type of medical school graduates that applied for nephrology fellowships through SMS. They included U.S. medical graduates (USMGs), foreign medical graduates (IMGs), U.S. International Medical Graduates (USIMGs), graduates of osteopathic medical schools (DOs), and other categories.
| Type of Graduate |
Nephrology Fellowship Positions Filled by SMS |
All Internal Medicine Fellowship Positions Filled by SMS |
| IMG |
170 |
942 |
| USMG |
132 |
1558 |
| US IMG |
27 |
246 |
| DO |
17 |
134 |
| Other |
2 |
0 |
| Total |
348 |
2889 |
For more information about NRMP SMS or the nephrology match, please contact ASN Training Program Directors Executive Chair, Donald E. Kohan, MD, PhD, FASN, at donald.kohan@hsc.utah.edu or ASN Senior Policy Coordinator Susan E. Owens at 202-416-0668 or sowens@asn-online.org.