What Is Medical Residency? Training, Salary & the Match Explained

Graduating from medical school earns you a medical degree, but it does not mark the end of your training. For most physicians in the United States, the next major step is residency.

Medical residency is supervised postgraduate training in a specific specialty, such as internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, psychiatry, or emergency medicine.

During residency, you are a physician caring for real patients while developing the skills and experience needed for increasingly independent practice.

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What Is a Medical Resident?

A medical resident is a doctor who has graduated from medical school and is completing specialty training.

Residents can participate directly in:

• Evaluating patients
• Diagnosing medical conditions
• Developing treatment plans
• Prescribing medications
• Performing procedures appropriate to their training
• Managing admissions and discharges
• Coordinating patient care

However, residency remains a supervised educational program.

Responsibility increases progressively as residents demonstrate competence and advance through training.

How Long Is Medical Residency?

Residency length depends primarily on specialty.

Common examples include:

Exact program structures can differ, and some specialties require a preliminary or transitional year before advanced specialty training.

Physicians pursuing a subspecialty may complete a fellowship after residency, adding additional years of training.

What Does PGY Mean?

Residency years are usually described using PGY, meaning Postgraduate Year.

For example:

• PGY-1: First year after medical school
• PGY-2: Second postgraduate year
• PGY-3: Third postgraduate year

The first year is commonly called the intern year, although the exact terminology varies between programs and specialties.

As PGY level increases, residents generally take on greater clinical responsibility.

Senior residents may supervise junior residents and medical students while managing increasingly complex cases.

Do Residents Get Paid?

Yes. Unlike medical students, who generally pay tuition, residents receive a salary or stipend from the institution where they train.

The AAMC conducts an annual Survey of Resident/Fellow Stipends and Benefits across ACGME-accredited sponsoring institutions. The latest available report is the 2025 survey. (AAMC)

Compensation generally increases with each PGY level.

Recent national AAMC figures put average stipends at approximately:

Actual salaries vary substantially by hospital and geographic region.

A resident training in New York City, for example, may receive a higher nominal salary than one in a lower-cost city, although their housing and living expenses may also be much higher.

Specialty usually does not determine resident salary at an institution in the same way specialty affects attending physician income.

What Does a Typical Day in Residency Look Like?

There is no universal residency schedule.

A surgery resident, psychiatrist, pediatrician, and radiology resident may have very different days.

An inpatient day might include:

• Early morning: Review overnight events, laboratory results, imaging, and patient updates.
• Morning rounds: Present patients and discuss diagnoses and treatment plans with the clinical team.
• Daytime: Manage patients, complete documentation, coordinate consultations, communicate with families, perform procedures, and respond to new clinical developments.
• Teaching: Attend lectures, case conferences, grand rounds, simulations, or other educational sessions.
• Sign-out: Transfer responsibility for patients to the incoming team.

Residents may also work nights, weekends, emergency shifts, and on-call schedules depending on specialty.

How Many Hours Do Residents Work?

Residency can involve long working weeks.

ACGME requirements limit clinical and educational work to no more than 80 hours per week, averaged over a four-week period.

That calculation includes:

• Hospital clinical work
• Educational activities
• Clinical work performed from home
• Moonlighting

The ACGME also requires scheduled time away from clinical and educational responsibilities. 

The 80-hour rule is a maximum, not a standard expectation that every resident must work exactly 80 hours.

Schedules vary significantly between specialties, rotations, hospitals, and stages of training.

How Do You Apply for Residency?

Most U.S. residency applicants use the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS).

ERAS is administered by the AAMC and allows applicants to submit information and application materials to participating residency programs.

For the 2027 ERAS season:

• June 4, 2026: ERAS season begins
• September 2, 2026: Applicants may begin submitting MyERAS applications
• September 23, 2026: Programs may begin reviewing applications and MSPEs
• May 31, 2027: 2027 ERAS season closes

See: AAMC ERAS Timeline

Residency applications can include:

• Personal information
• Medical education
• Experiences
• Personal statement
• Letters of recommendation
• Medical school transcript
• MSPE
• Licensing examination results
• Program-specific information

Some specialties use application systems or processes outside ERAS, so applicants should verify requirements for their specialty.

What Is the Residency Match?

Applying through ERAS and participating in the NRMP Main Residency Match are related but separate processes. ERAS sends applications to programs.

The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) matches applicants and residency programs after interviews and ranking.

Applicants create a Rank Order List, ranking programs in their genuine order of preference.

Residency programs separately rank applicants.

The NRMP matching algorithm then attempts to place applicants into the highest-ranked program possible that also ranks them sufficiently to match.

2027 Residency Match Timeline

Important dates for the 2027 Main Residency Match include:

• September 15, 2026: NRMP registration opens
• January 29, 2027: Standard registration deadline
• February 1, 2027: Ranking opens
• March 3, 2027: Rank Order List certification deadline at 9 p.m. ET
• March 15, 2027: Applicants learn whether they matched, and SOAP begins
• March 18, 2027: Four SOAP offer rounds
• March 19, 2027: Match Day

See: NRMP 2027 Applicant Calendar

What Happens on Match Day?

Match Week begins before Match Day itself. On Monday, March 15, 2027, applicants learn whether they successfully matched into a residency position.

Applicants who are unmatched or partially matched and meet eligibility requirements may participate in the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) for available positions.

Four SOAP offer rounds are scheduled for March 18, 2027. Then, on Friday, March 19, 2027, applicants receive their Match results and learn which residency program they will join. (NRMP)

How Competitive Is Residency?

Residency competitiveness varies significantly by specialty and applicant type. Instead of relying on fixed lists of the "most competitive" and "least competitive" specialties, use current NRMP Match data.

Competitiveness can change from year to year based on factors such as:

• Number of available residency positions
• Number of applicants
• Applicant type
• Specialty preference
• Interview numbers
• Program rankings

Dermatology, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, otolaryngology, and neurological surgery have historically been among specialties with particularly competitive Match patterns.

However, individual outcomes depend heavily on the applicant and the specific Match cycle.

What Helps You Match Into Residency?

Residency programs evaluate more than a single examination score.

Depending on the specialty, important factors may include:

• Clinical performance
• USMLE or COMLEX-USA results
• Letters of recommendation
• Specialty-specific experiences
• Research
• Medical school evaluations
• Personal statement
• Interviews
• Professionalism
• Program signals
• Geographic preferences

Clinical electives can also help medical students better understand specialties and different healthcare systems before residency applications. Students interested in supervised international clinical exposure can explore Go-Elective Medical Electives.

The objective of an elective should be learning and clinical development, not simply accumulating résumé entries.

Residency vs Fellowship

Residency and fellowship are both postgraduate medical training, but they serve different purposes. Residency trains you in a primary medical specialty. Fellowship provides further subspecialty training after residency.

For example:

• Medical school → Internal medicine residency → Cardiology fellowship
• Medical school → Pediatrics residency → Pediatric hematology-oncology fellowship
• Medical school → General surgery residency → Surgical critical care fellowship

Not every physician needs to complete a fellowship.

Many physicians begin practicing after finishing residency.

Resident vs Fellow vs Attending

These terms describe different stages of physician training.

• Resident: Physician completing specialty training.
• Fellow: Physician who has usually completed residency and is pursuing subspecialty training.
• Attending physician: Physician who has completed the postgraduate training required for their role and supervises residents, fellows, and medical students in teaching environments.

The level of independence increases at each stage.

Is Residency Required to Practice Medicine?

For physicians pursuing standard independent clinical practice in the United States, postgraduate residency training is an essential part of the pathway. Exact medical licensing requirements vary by state.

Graduating from medical school alone should not be confused with completing all requirements for unrestricted independent practice or specialty certification.

Residents continue developing the clinical competence needed for those later stages.

Final Thoughts

Medical residency is the bridge between medical school and independent specialty practice.

You enter residency as a medical school graduate and leave with years of concentrated experience managing patients within a particular specialty.

During those years, you:

• Treat real patients
• Receive a salary
• Work under supervision
• Build specialty expertise
• Take on increasing responsibility
• Complete licensing and training requirements
• Prepare for independent practice or fellowship

For students entering the 2027 Match, remember the major dates: ERAS applications can be submitted beginning September 2, 2026, programs begin reviewing them September 23, and Match Day is March 19, 2027.

FAQs About Medical Residency

#1. Are residents doctors?

Yes. Residents have graduated from medical school and are physicians completing supervised postgraduate specialty training.

#2. How long does residency last?

Most residency programs last approximately three to seven years, depending on specialty and program structure.

#3. Do medical residents get paid?

Yes. Residents receive salaries or stipends from their training institutions. Compensation generally increases with PGY level and differs between hospitals and regions. 

#4. How many hours can residents work?

ACGME-accredited programs generally limit clinical and educational work to 80 hours per week averaged over four weeks, including moonlighting and eligible work performed from home. 

#5. What happens if you do not Match?

Eligible unmatched or partially matched applicants may participate in SOAP during Match Week to pursue unfilled residency positions. For 2027, SOAP begins March 15 and its four offer rounds occur March 18. 

#6. What is the difference between residency and fellowship?

Residency provides training in a medical specialty, while fellowship usually follows residency and provides more specialized training within a subspecialty.

#7. When is Match Day 2027?

Friday, March 19, 2027. Applicants receive their Match results at noon Eastern Time. 

Article Details

Categories

Recent Articles , Pre-health, Med Schools, Medical Electives, Residency,

Author: Tatina Himes

Date Published: Sep 8, 2026