Frequency

Percent of Respondents (2,206)

None

214

9.7

1

345

15.6

2

288

13.1

3

309

14.0

4

191

8.7

5

179

8.1

6-10

199

9.0

Over 10

65

2.9

N/A

416

18.9

No Response

505

—

Total

2,711

100.0

* The response rate of senior residents was 82 percent.

Table 3.  What is the range of your educational debt?

Choice	Frequency	Percent of Total Senior Residents (2,711)	Percent of Respondents (2,201)
None	348	12.8	15.8
<$50K	100	3.7	4.5
$50-99K	99	3.7	4.5
$100-$149K	103	3.8	4.7
$150-199K	175	6.5	8.0
$200-$249K	268	9.9	12.2
$250-299K	288	10.6	13.1
$300-$349K	310	11.4	14.1
$350-399K	216	8.0	9.8
>$400K	294	10.8	13.4
No response	510	18.8	—
TOTAL	2,711	100.0	100.1

Warranted Concerns?

While there is growing concern that emergency medicine graduates will have difficulty finding employment, the results of this survey show that the vast majority of graduates have already been offered a job and only a small percentage (three percent) have not received any job offer, four months prior to graduation. 

Educational debt is of specific concern to graduating residents. The data from this year compared to similar data in 2019 shows fewer individuals with lower amounts of debt. 37.3 percent of 2023 graduates have over $300,000 in educational debt compared to 32.1 percent of graduates in 2019. 

Figure 1:

 

Figure 2:

 

References

1. Marco CA, Courtney DM, Ling LJ, et al. The Emergency Medicine Physician Workforce: Projections for 2030. Ann Emerg Med. 2021;78(6):726-737.
2. NRMP 2023 match data: results and data.Washington, DC: National Resident Matching Program; 2023. Available at: https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-SMS-Results-and-Data-Book.pdf. 

DR. MARCO is associate editor of ACEP Now.

DR. GALLAHUE is the program director emeritus of the emergency medicine residency at the University of Washington (UW) and professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine. 

DR. COURTNEY is professor and vice chair of Academic Affairs in the Department of Emergency Medicine at UT Southwestern.