Osteopathic medicine keeps growing: Record class lands in 2026 residency match

A record 8,864 graduates of colleges of osteopathic medicine secured residency positions in the 2026 match cycle, representing a placement rate of 98.76%, according to the 2026 tally by the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM).

The 9,019 new graduates holding the doctor of osteopathic medicine (D.O.) degree who completed training this spring will begin residencies in July 2026, according to AACOM's annual report on graduate medical education placements.

“We are extremely proud of the achievements and success of our largest graduating class ever,” AACOM President and CEO Robert A. Cain, DO, FACOI, FAODME, said in a news release.

“These students have demonstrated an incredibly high level of dedication and perseverance to succeed in this ever-changing landscape of medical education,” Cain said. “This placement rate is a testament to their hard work and to the training they received at our colleges of osteopathic medicine.”

The 2026 class carries particular significance: these students entered medical school at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and AACOM noted that its effects on osteopathic medical training continue to linger even as the class completes its studies.

“The residency placement season that culminated in the residency matches for the year 2026 is of particular interest, given it is a class highly impacted by the COVID-19 global pandemic at the beginning of their medical school careers,” the report said. “While many, though not all, of the changes to the residency selection and transition processes brought about by the COVID-19 global pandemic had either been adapted to or abandoned by the time these students matched to or placed in residency, impacts on graduating osteopathic medical students continue to linger.”

Multiple pathways to placement

Residency placement for D.O. graduates occurs through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Main Residency Match, along with several other channels. Of the 8,975 graduates who sought graduate medical education positions, 8,586 — or 95.67% — participated in the NRMP match. Of those, 8,407 secured positions through the NRMP or through the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP), which matches graduates with unfilled residency slots after the main match concludes.

DO graduates achieved their highest post-graduate year-1 match rate on record through the NRMP, a 0.6% improvement over the prior year.

Additional placement pathways accounted for the remainder of successful placements. The military match placed 358 graduates, or 3.99% of those seeking positions. Early specialty matches — including ophthalmology and plastic surgery — accounted for 46 placements, and three graduates matched through the Canadian Residency Matching Program.

Steady growth over a decade

The 2026 figures continue a decade-long expansion of osteopathic medical education. In 2017, 5,984 D.O. graduates were anticipated; by 2026, that figure had grown to 9,019 — an increase of more than 50% in nine years. Placement rates have remained consistently high throughout that period, ranging from a low of 98% in 2021 to a high of 99.5% in 2023.

Osteopathic medicine has grown to represent more than 11% of all physicians in the United States, with the profession on track for continued expansion — more than one in four current U.S. medical students are now choosing to pursue osteopathic medicine.

Primary care implications

The strong placement numbers arrive alongside a broader conversation about primary care workforce trends. Overall, primary care specialties continued to be the largest component of the Main Residency Match in 2026, with 20,712 positions offered — an increase of 412 — though the specialties collectively achieved a 92.1% fill rate, a decrease of 1.4% from 2025. Family medicine in particular saw its fill rate edge down from 85% in 2025 to 83.6% in 2026, leaving 899 positions unfilled, according to NMRP.

The NRMP said it will convene a study panel to examine medical student interest, evolving residency recruitment dynamics, and broader factors influencing family medicine's growth and sustainability.

In an interview with Medical Economics, Cain noted the osteopathic profession is at a tipping point for overall contribution U.S. health care. More D.O. physicians achieve greater visibility, which inspires more interest and draws more medical students to the profession, which has a strong showing in primary care.

“We've talked for a long time about the positioning of osteopathic medicine around primary care, the role it can play,” Cain said. “When you look at our principles, one of which is this focus on body, mind and spirit, as well as the others, it's not a surprise that whether you enter primary care or that you would take that into primary care. It aligns very well to what happens in primary care.”

Economic health, along with physical treatments

Colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs) train physicians to care for patients, and the colleges themselves also create an economic effect where they are. AACOM commissioned a study in 2025 of the 44 COMs with 71 teaching locations across 26 states. They had more than 39,000 medical students enrolled as of fall 2024, and supported 20,770 jobs earning $1.3 billion in wages. With indirect economic effects, instruction, research and other expenditures, the COMs produced $6.2 billion in total economic output.