Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Restoring function after injury or chronic illness. Pain medicine, sports, neuro-rehab.
PM&R physicians (physiatrists) manage stroke recovery, spinal cord and traumatic brain injury, musculoskeletal injuries, chronic pain, amputee care, sports medicine, and outpatient rehabilitation. Combines diagnostic detective work with procedural interventions (joint and spinal injections, EMG / nerve conduction).
Lifestyle & practice
Among the best lifestyles. Hours 45 to 55 attending, predictable, minimal call. Compensation $290k to $350k median, higher for pain medicine.
Common fellowship paths
- Residency length
- 4 years (1 IM/Peds + 3)
- Median comp
- $300k to $350k
High-signal external links curated for residents and applicants.
- American Academy of PM&R ↗
Specialty society. AAPMR annual meeting, education.
- PM&R Knowledge Now ↗
Free, peer-reviewed reference articles.
- PM&R forum (SDN) ↗
Long-running medical career forum with active specialty subforums.
Positions
577
All applicants
740
Seats / app
0.78
From NRMP Charting Outcomes 2024 (most recent biennial publication). Source PDFs: MD Seniors / DO Seniors / IMG. NRMP publishes Charting Outcomes every other year, so this should refresh in early 2026 with the 2025 cycle data.
| Pool | Step 1 | Step 2 | Pubs | Research | AOA % | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MD_seniors | 226 | 248 | 8.6 | 3.4 | 13.9 | 231 |
| DO_seniors | 225 | 241 | 6.8 | 3.3 | — | 159 |
| US_IMG | 220 | 239 | 4.2 | 3.3 | — | 13 |
| Non_US_IMG | 237 | 242 | 9.0 | 2.8 | — | 14 |
Per-applicant-type match rates and mean Step scores published by NRMP every two years. Each row is one applicant pool in one cycle. Step scores reflect what matched applicants in that cycle achieved, not what programs require today.
| Year | Type | Match rate | Matched (n) | Step 1 | Step 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | MD_Senior | 84.6% | 231 | 226 | 248 |
| 2024 | DO_Senior | 75.4% | 159 | 225 | 241 |
| 2024 | IMG | 44.8% | 13 | — | 239 |
| 2022 | MD_Senior | 86.2% | 213 | 230 | 242 |
| 2022 | IMG | 44.1% | 15 | 220 | 227 |
| 2020 | MD_Senior | 89.8% | 221 | 228 | 241 |
| 2020 | DO_Senior | 83.7% | 164 | 224 | 236 |
| 2018 | MD_Senior | 88.0% | 228 | 225 | 239 |
| 2018 | IMG | 35.3% | 18 | 226 | 235 |
| Pool | Share |
|---|---|
| MD_seniors | 59.0% |
| DO_seniors | 33.5% |
| US_IMG | 3.4% |
| Non_US_IMG | 4.0% |