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Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Getting the latest healthcare news for you
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has launched the Residency Selection Improvement Initiative (RSII) to fix a match process that leaves hundreds of positions unfilled each year. The initiative streamlines how applicants find programs and how programs identify aligned candidates — and it's already rolling out for the 2026–2027 match cycle.
The AAFP's residency match process has long been a challenge for medical students and programs alike — and now the organization is doing something about it. The newly launched Residency Selection Improvement Initiative (RSII) aims to make family medicine residency recruitment more effective, efficient, equitable, and economical. With over 800 programs nationwide, students often struggle to find the right fit, while programs are buried in applications and still end up with unfilled spots.
The RSII tackles this with a suite of practical reforms: a one-stop information tool giving applicants clearer program details, six new interview process recommendations (like delaying initial offers by one week and requiring at least 2 business days for applicants to respond), and a push for programs to adopt "screen-in" approaches that look for mission alignment rather than simply filtering applicants out. Implementation has already begun with the 2026–2027 match cycle.
By the numbers:
Why it matters: The primary care workforce shortage is a growing crisis, and an inefficient match process quietly makes it worse — potentially steering future family physicians away before they even start. RSII won't solve everything, but fixing the pipeline is a critical first step.
