Residency App Rates Fell in States That Restricted Abortion

"This is true for all medical specialties, so it's not just women's health that's under threat. The decrease is especially pronounced in primary care and emergency medicine. About half of medical residents go on to practice in the state where they receive their residency."

"Comparing the 2018-19 application cycle to the 2022-23 cycle, states that increased abortion restrictions saw their programs' average application rate from women drop from 22.2 to 21.3, while the application rate from men dropped from 23.2 to 22.2."

"Despite overall increases in the number of residency applications during the study period, existing disparities between application volume to programs in abortion-restricted and nonrestricted states widened for women applying to residency, and new disparities emerged for men applying to residency."

Following the Supreme Court's June 2022 Dobbs decision eliminating constitutional abortion rights, 20 states implemented new abortion restrictions or intensified existing ones. A peer-reviewed study analyzing over 24 million applications across 4,315 residency programs found that states increasing abortion restrictions experienced declining application rates to their programs. Women's applications dropped from 22.2 to 21.3 per 100,000 national applications, while men's applications fell from 23.2 to 22.2. The decline affected all medical specialties, with particularly pronounced decreases in primary care and emergency medicine. Approximately half of medical residents practice in their residency state, potentially affecting physician workforce distribution. Despite overall increases in residency applications nationally, disparities widened for women and emerged for men in abortion-restricted states.

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