Table 1.

Mean Applications Submitted, “Point of Diminishing Returns,” and Ranks Required for > 90% Match Rate by Specialty

Specialty	Mean Applications Submitted (2018–2019)9	Point of Diminishing Returns by USMLE Step 1 Tertile2			Contiguous Ranks for > 90% Match Rate8
		Bottom	Middle	Top
Anesthesiology	34.0	29	21	18	5
Dermatology	68.8	43	N/A	34	9
Diagnostic radiology	43.5	37	23	20	7
Emergency medicine	51.3	32	23	23	9
Family medicine	33.4	19	17	14	5
General surgery	41.1	49	37	36	11
Internal medicine	30.8	30	20	15	4
Internal medicine–pediatrics	24.3	27	16	15	6
Neurology	25.6	18	14	10	5
Obstetrics and gynecology	51.5	28	16	15	10
Orthopedic surgery	80.7	58	39	37	12
Otolaryngology	43.5	45	40	33	9
Pathology	21.6	19	17	14	4
Pediatrics	29.2	22	15	13	4
Plastic surgery–integrated	38.8	N/A	29	27	12
Psychiatry	38.8	21	15	14	8
Radiation oncology	39.8	N/A	32	22	8
Urology	72.1	34	N/A	21	N/A
Vascular surgery–integrated	15.3	23	20	18	20+

Abbreviations: USMLE, United States Medical Licensing Examination; N/A, not available.