14.9% for the 2002 match is the number that i have come across. evidentally, they nrmp will release that info only if you pay $40 now. came across this stat on student doctor network forum from a guy writing a book about medical specialties. we had the fourth highest unmatched percentage.

1. plastics (23.5%)
2. rad-onc (17.9%)
3. derm (16.1%)
4. ortho (14.9%)

I'm curious about from where those numbers came. The number of applicants to ortho programs this year was 1100+. If there are only 524-ish positions, that leaves a lot more than 14.9% unmatched this time around.

That 1100+ include people that applied to at least one ortho program. 400-500 of them also applied to gen surg, rads, anesthesia, or numerous other specialties and matched in something else. The 14.9 % represents the number of those that did not match in any specialty and applied to at least one ortho program.

ortho2003 makes a good point. You can't use the unmatched percentage as a reliable guide to how tough a given specialty is to get into compared to others. The fact that people apply to more than one specialty and match in backups makes that data useless. The real number would be the number of applicants whose first choice was ortho, plastics, ophthal, etc. vs. the number of spots. I do not know of any source where you can actually get that data because nobody knows how many people have what as a first choice. I guess NRMP could poll their computers to see how many people ranked an ortho program No. 1 vs. others and figure it out, but I doubt they ever will.

Tough to say what the real stats are. I know that some of the inflated numbers include large numbers of international grads who have a much lower chance of matching :pimp:

...but you can't rule-out FMG. I know of a guy at the Mayo clinic who is a FMG with lots of research and publication experience