Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Has 20% More Applicants Than Four Years Ago
On the day programs opened ERAS 2027 applications, 1,180 people had applied to physical medicine & rehabilitation, against 984 at the same point of ERAS 2023. Programs interviewed 34% of the applicants who signaled them and 1% of those who didn't.
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That is a 20% increase, comparing the same day of each cycle. Of the 20 specialties with at least 300 applicants, 17 grew; physical medicine & rehabilitation had the eighth-largest increase. Over full seasons, the change from ERAS 2023 to 2026 was +4%. By applicant type, the same-day change since ERAS 2023 was +19% for MDs, +40% for DOs and −17% for international graduates.
Below are five seasons of AAMC ERAS data for physical medicine & rehabilitation: who applies, how many applications they send, how signals are used and how often programs interviewed applicants who did and didn’t signal them, split by MD, DO and international medical graduate.
The international-graduate share of applicants fell 5 points
In ERAS 2026, 1,139 people applied to physical medicine & rehabilitation. The pool was 42.2% MD, 39.6% DO and 18.2% international graduates. 4% applied to no other specialty, a count that treats required preliminary and transitional years as another specialty.
Applicants are up 12.8% from the same day last year
| Season | All | MD | DO | Intl. grads | Applications |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ERAS 2027so far, vs. same day of 2026 | ▲+12.8% | ▲+13.6% | ▲+18.6% | ▼−5.0% | ▼−1.7% |
| ERAS 2026vs. 2025 | ▲+4.7% | ▲+6.7% | ▲+6.8% | ▼−5.3% | ▼−13.5% |
| ERAS 2025vs. 2024 | ▲+3.7% | ▲+0.2% | ▲+7.9% | ▲+3.7% | ▲+4.7% |
| ERAS 2024vs. 2023 | ▼−2.1% | ▼−2.0% | ▲+2.5% | ▼−11.4% | ▲+3.8% |
The median applicant sends 38 applications, down from 46
By type in ERAS 2026: MDs 35, DOs 42, international graduates 21. The middle half of applicants sent between 24 and 54. The overall median is the 10th highest of 23 specialties covered here.
On the programs’ side, the median physical medicine & rehabilitation program received 237 applications in ERAS 2026, against 365 in ERAS 2023.
Most applicants a program sees have signaled it
In ERAS 2027, 99% of physical medicine & rehabilitation applicants used signals, and the median signaling applicant used 20.
At the median program, 50% of applicants had signaled it, up from 42% in ERAS 2026. The median program received 181.5 signals; the busiest tenth received 287 or more.
Signals per applicant by season: 2024: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2026: 20 · 2027: 20.
See which physical medicine & rehabilitation programs a signal moves most.
Without a signal, interviews are rare
Show as table
| Did not signal | Signaled | |
|---|---|---|
| All applicants | 1% | 34% |
| MD | 1% | 43% |
| DO | 1% | 34% |
| Intl. graduates | 0% | 4% |
30% of physical medicine & rehabilitation programs interviewed no one who hadn’t signaled them. At 99% of programs, signaled applicants were interviewed at a higher rate than those who didn’t signal. With rates this low, applications beyond an applicant’s signals rarely turn into interviews.
These are last season’s rates. Track who is sending physical medicine & rehabilitation interview invites this season.
A DO's signal returns 79% of what an MD's does; an international graduate's, 9%
An MD who signaled a physical medicine & rehabilitation program was interviewed at 43% of the median program, the seventh lowest of 21 specialties with interview data. For DOs, physical medicine & rehabilitation ranks the sixth most DO-friendly of 16.
An international graduate who signaled (4%) did better than an MD who didn’t (1%), one of the few specialties where that holds.
These are outcomes by group, not the effect of belonging to one. The groups differ in exam timing, visa needs and U.S. clinical experience, and none of that is controlled here.
The most common backup is internal medicine, chosen by 23%
| Also applied to, ERAS 2026 | Share of applicants |
|---|---|
| Transitional YearPGY-1 year | 72% |
| Internal Medicine (preliminary)PGY-1 year | 66% |
| Internal Medicine (categorical) | 23% |
| Family Medicine | 22% |
| Internal Medicine (primary care) | 13% |
| Neurology | 5% |
Rows marked PGY-1 year are preliminary and transitional programs, which specialties that start at PGY-2 require. Categorical programs in another specialty are the real backup plan.