The American healthcare system is in crisis, and the 2025 residency match has laid bare a stark injustice: nearly 10,000 qualified American medical graduates are left without a residency program, despite a dire shortage of providers. As a nation, we lament the “doctor shortage”—projected to reach 124,000 by 2034, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)—yet the system continues to fail its own. The X platform has erupted with outrage over this year’s match results, with 47,000 applicants vying for just 38,000 residency slots, leaving 9,000 American doctors unmatched. The American Medical Association (AMA), long accused of intentionally limiting residency slots, bears much of the blame, while thousands of foreign-trained doctors occupy these coveted positions, displacing American graduates. White-Collar Workers of America, a fierce advocate for U.S. workers, sees this as yet another example of foreign labor undermining American talent. Let’s dive into this self-inflicted crisis, the data behind it, and the voices of those left behind.
The 2025 Match: A Devastating Blow to American Doctors
The 2025 residency match, facilitated by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), has exposed a glaring mismatch between supply and demand. 47,000 applicants applied through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), but only 38,000 matched into a residency program. This leaves nearly 10,000 qualified medical graduates—individuals who have completed four grueling years of medical school, passed rigorous exams, and accrued significant debt—without a path to practice medicine. The web search results confirm this trend: in 2019, 44,603 registrants competed for 35,185 positions, with 38,376 submitting rank lists, per MedEdits. The number of applicants has grown, but the number of slots has not kept pace, exacerbating the bottleneck.
Specialties like emergency medicine highlight the severity of the issue. 4,597 ERAS applicants competed for just 3,068 PGY-1 (first-year residency) positions in emergency medicine, leaving over 1,500 applicants unmatched in this field alone. Family medicine, often cited as a critical need due to primary care shortages, faces a similar fate.
However, a graph above is showing significant interest in family medicine among American graduates, debunking the myth that U.S. doctors prefer specialty programs. Yet, the lack of residency slots in family medicine forces many to either pivot to less desired fields or remain unmatched, unable to practice.
The AMA’s Role: A Self-Inflicted Doctor Shortage
The so-called “doctor shortage” is not a natural phenomenon—it’s a deliberate construct, orchestrated in part by the AMA. The AMA intentionally limits the number of residency slots available, a policy rooted in historical efforts to control the physician supply and maintain high salaries. In the 1980s, the AMA and other medical organizations lobbied to cap federal funding for graduate medical education (GME), which supports residency programs through Medicare. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 froze the number of Medicare-funded residency slots at 1996 levels, a decision that has not been meaningfully updated in nearly three decades, despite a growing population and aging demographics.
The web search results underscore the consequences. The AAMC projects a shortage of 124,000 physicians by 2034, with primary care and psychiatry facing the most acute deficits. Yet, as Web ID 1 (AMA, 2024) notes, Congress has failed to expand Medicare-supported GME slots, despite bipartisan proposals like the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2023, which would add 14,000 new positions over seven years. The AMA, while publicly advocating for more slots, has historically resisted rapid expansion, citing concerns over “oversupply” and the quality of training programs. This stance has left American medical graduates in a lurch, unable to secure the residencies they need to practice, even as rural and underserved areas cry out for doctors.
Foreign-Trained Doctors: Displacing American Graduates
Compounding the crisis is the significant presence of foreign-trained doctors in U.S. residency programs, a practice that White-Collar Workers of America vehemently opposes. The web search results reveal that in 2019, U.S. international medical graduates (IMGs) had a match rate of 59.0%, and non-U.S. citizen IMGs had a match rate of 58.6%, both the highest in history, per MedEdits. While these IMGs must complete an accredited residency in the U.S. or Canada to practice here, as noted in Web ID 2 (AMA, 2024), their success comes at the expense of American graduates. In 2025, with only 38,000 slots for 47,000 applicants, every position taken by a foreign-trained doctor means one less for an American graduate.
White-Collar Workers of America, known for its fight against foreign worker programs like H-1B, sees this as a betrayal of American talent. The group’s website highlights how H-1B visas allow companies to hire foreign workers at lower wages, displacing U.S. professionals in fields like tech. The same principle applies to medicine: foreign-trained doctors, often willing to accept lower stipends or work in less desirable locations, are prioritized over American graduates who have invested heavily in their education. A 2021 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that IMGs make up 25% of the U.S. physician workforce, a number that has grown as residency slots remain stagnant. While some argue that IMGs fill gaps in underserved areas, the data shows that many end up in urban centers, competing directly with American graduates for the same slots.
Family Medicine: A Myth of Disinterest Debunked
The narrative that American doctors don’t want to go into family medicine—a field critical to addressing primary care shortages—has been a convenient excuse for importing foreign doctors. But unmatched doctors data shatters this myth, showing robust interest in family medicine among American graduates. Yet, the lack of residency slots in this specialty forces many to either pursue other fields or remain unmatched. Web ID 3 (PMC) notes that in 2019, 4,128 family medicine residency positions were available, with a fill rate of 93.2%, but by 2020, this dropped to 92.5%, the lowest since 2010. More alarmingly, the fill rate for U.S. allopathic seniors in family medicine hit historic lows of 39.2% in 2019 and 33.2% in 2020, meaning more positions were taken by osteopathic students and IMGs.
This trend has only worsened in 2025. With primary care shortages projected to reach 55,000 by 2034, per the AAMC, the failure to expand family medicine residencies is a glaring oversight. American graduates are eager to serve, but the system—controlled by the AMA and federal funding constraints—denies them the opportunity, instead turning to foreign-trained doctors to fill the gap. White-Collar Workers of America argues that this is a deliberate choice to prioritize foreign labor over American talent, mirroring the H-1B abuses the group has long fought against.
The Human Cost: Unmatched Doctors Left in Limbo
The human toll of the residency match crisis is profound. Unmatched American doctors face an uncertain future, often burdened with over $200,000 in student loan debt, according to the AAMC. Without a residency, they cannot obtain a medical license to practice, leaving them in professional limbo. Some may apply for the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP), but Web ID 0 notes that SOAP success rates are low, with many applicants still unmatched after the process. Others may pivot to non-clinical careers, such as consulting or research, but this represents a tragic loss of talent in a nation desperate for doctors.
The emotional impact is equally devastating. Unmatched doctors express frustration and disbelief at a system that fails its own. “Despite the major provider shortages, 10K qualified people who have completed medical school now don’t have a program,”@unmatchedmd X user writes, a sentiment echoed across the platform. For these graduates, the dream of serving their communities—whether in emergency medicine, family medicine, or any other specialty—has been cruelly deferred, if not destroyed.
A Path Forward: Prioritize American Doctors
The residency match crisis is a self-inflicted wound, perpetuated by the AMA’s shortsighted policies and the systemic preference for foreign-trained doctors. White-Collar Workers of America offers a clear solution: prioritize American medical graduates by expanding residency slots and ending the reliance on foreign labor. The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2023, which would add 14,000 new Medicare-funded GME slots, is a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough. Congress must act swiftly to double the number of residency positions, particularly in primary care fields like family medicine, to meet the nation’s needs.
Equally critical is addressing the displacement of American graduates by foreign-trained doctors. White-Collar Workers of America calls for a moratorium on IMGs in residency programs until every qualified American graduate is matched. If foreign doctors are needed in underserved areas, they should be required to serve there exclusively, not compete with Americans for urban slots. This mirrors the group’s broader fight against H-1B visas, which displace U.S. workers in tech and other fields. The principle is the same: American talent must come first.
The 2025 residency match is a wake-up call. Nearly 10,000 American medical graduates are unmatched, their dreams deferred, while the AMA and federal policies continue to fail them. The doctor shortage is real, but it’s a problem of our own making. It’s time to stop importing foreign labor and start investing in our own—because these are our doctors, and our future.
Join the Fight: Share this article on X, TikTok, and Instagram with #EndForeignDoctors and #MatchAmericanMDs. Call your representatives to demand more residency slots and priority for U.S. graduates. The time to act is now.
White-Collar Workers of America 