Photo Credit: iStock.com/Takasuu

Corinne L. Bria, MD, MEd, and Samuel Mikhail, MD, share insights on the NRMP Match process from a pediatrics program perspective.

The 2025 National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Match offered 3,193 categorical and primary pediatrics positions, an increase of 54 from 2024, and filled 3,043 for a 95.3 percent fill rate, according to a March 21, 2025, NRMP press release.

To gain insights into the NRMP process from a pediatrics perspective, Physician’s Weekly spoke with Nemours Children’s Hospital Residency Training Program Director Corinne L. Bria, MD, MEd, and Samuel Mikhail, MD, a Nemours Children’s Hospital first-year pediatric resident.

PW: How long has Nemours Children’s Hospital been involved in the NRMP?

Dr. Bria: We have been a program for seven years, and we’ve been with the National Resident Matching Program that entire time. The National Resident Matching Program … really allows us to get to know our applicants from day one as more full and complete people. At the end of the day, we’re doing this because we’re working to find applicants who will be successful in our programs, who will then serve the patients, the families, and, in our case, the children of our specific area so that we can do our best to take care of our patients in the community and beyond.

How many openings does your residency training program offer?

Dr. Bria: We are a freestanding children’s hospital—all we do is pediatrics—so our program is 16 residents strong, which is very exciting. This is a very competitive field. We want to ensure that we are opening up the application process to as many applicants as we possibly can, and we also want to make sure that we’re always doing the right thing for the applicant.

We’re governed by certain guardrails within the NRMP and the system, as well as our overall governing body, the Association of Pediatric Program Directors. In terms of application, we never offer more opportunities to interview than we have application or interview slots available. We really respect the rules, we really respect our applicants, and we always try to do the right thing. This is such an important process. We are recruiting people to take care of other people’s children, and that incredible objective is not lost on us.

How was your experience going through the NRMP process as a pediatrics residency applicant?

Dr. Mikhail: It was definitely a nerve-wracking and exciting time. Beginning the process of the fourth year, you start by studying for your second board exam and jumping right into the application season. One of the most important things throughout the entire process was having constant communication with my mentors—asking them, “How should I even begin this process? What programs should I consider? What should my application strategy be?”

One of the more stressful parts of my fourth year of medical school was having my email always at hand, ready to jump on that link to schedule my interview. That link could come at any time of the day, any day of the week, and by the time you open the email and the scheduling platform, half the slots were taken, and you had to just pick whatever was available. So, one thing that would definitely help [future NRMP applicants] would be a unified platform where applicants would be able to schedule their interviews, their second looks, etc. because each program has its own different platform and its own rules around how to communicate with them, when to provide them with updates, and whether or not to give them those updates.

Can you tell us a bit about the interview process?

Dr. Bria: Recruitment is a team sport, so we open this up to our entire faculty, but we do not have any residents, including our chief residents, involved in our selection committee because there is sensitive information in these files, and we want to be really mindful of that. Once our faculty have self-identified as being interested in this holistic review process, we hold special training sessions with them because every program has a very individualized approach to this process, and we want them to feel very supported by our program leadership team while also recognizing what we’re looking for.

Dr. Mikhail: The interview process was a lot less formal than I had thought it would be. Throughout the first part of the fourth year, it was a lot of answering online questions, filling out applications, developing a strategy, and creating my story about who I was as a potential resident. When it came to actual interview day, it was much more laid-back—just conversations with the program leadership: How did my experiences throughout undergraduate and medical school transform me into a potential resident at their program? How did my own personal story and my interests, my likes, and my dislikes—come together? At the end of most of my interviews, especially at Nemours, they truly knew who I was as a person.

What was most important to you when ranking programs and applicants?

Dr. Mikhail: Trying to find that balance between where I would receive a world-class education as a resident but would also feel supported by family, my friends, the program leadership, and the other residents in the program.

Dr. Bria: We’re very much dedicated to that holistic review, so, we’re looking for behavioral traits, characteristics, and skill sets that demonstrate hard work, hustle, energy, empathy, authenticity, and accountability—and aspects of the application that tell us who the potential resident is. It’s the conglomeration of volunteer experiences, research experiences, letters of recommendation, the personal statement by the resident, and, of course, their academic record, their standardized testing. All of that factors in. The holistic review process is a long adventure, but putting in that work allows us to match incredible young physicians who are really aligned with our values and who allow us to take incredible care of our patients.

What changes have you experienced in the NRMP process?

Dr. Bria: Overall, the NRMP system hasn’t changed particularly, but they’ve made some great improvements with the partnering of Thalamus and ERAs, which allows us for that more enhanced holistic review.

In terms of how we recruit, on March 10th, 2020, the world shut down to flatten the curve from the COVID-19 pandemic, and everything switched from in-person to a completely virtual environment. The virtual environment has allowed us to get into places and spaces that we were not able to before because of plane flights and hotel accommodations—all of this compounds cost. I have seen within our program that when we look not only at the map of our country but also at the number of applicants that we’re able to interview across the world, that has increased with the virtual environment.

Now, we’re figuring out ways to incorporate the in-person experience with in-person second looks as part of our recruitment process—a hybrid of sorts. A sense of belongingness is incredibly important in all of the workplaces and work communities that we live in. There are intangibles that do not translate across the screen. Demonstrating that sense of belongingness to our applicants is something in-person second looks have allowed.

What advice would you like to share with future NRMP pediatrics residency applicants?

Dr. Bria: Feeling that passion for pediatrics is really important, and if that spirit catches you, lean right in and go for it. I also want to encourage everyone to consider pediatrics in the southeast region. The southeast region is emerging as a more undersubscribed area for pediatrics, but I promise you the patients, the families, and the team that you will work with are without comparison, so do not overlook the opportunity.

When it comes to resident recruitment, it’s that dynamic relationship between the applicants, the program leadership team, and the residents in the program where the energy that you feel, the vibes, the gut instinct, is real. If you are feeling this energy, if you are feeling these vibes, if you are feeling this sort of pull, trust that. Trust that because there is something very unspoken, very intangible about these relationships. And if you think about it, there’s something intangible about our relationships as physicians with our patients and our families. So, when you feel that energy, when you feel those vibes, investigate!  I was recruited so long ago that I had index cards, and at the end of the day, I made my decision about where I was going for residency training because the associate program director that I interviewed with? I wanted to be her. And that’s real. So, trust those feelings, trust those instincts. They’re there for a reason.

Dr. Mikhail: It’s okay not to know all the ins and outs of the match process. You learn as you go, and you also have your mentors who know all the details and who have been through the process multiple times, so rely on them. Believe in yourself. Trust that all the hard work that you’ve done through undergrad and medical school is going to pay off. I’m a firm believer that you’re going to match where you’re needed most and where you’re going to have the most growth to become that doctor that you want to be.