Emergency radiology among 8 subspecialties that failed to fill 50% of fellowship positions
Emergency radiology is among eight subspecialties that filled fewer than 50% of open positions, according to new data from the National Resident Matching Program.
Altogether, there were roughly 15,846 active applicants who submitted a certified rank-order list of programs, the NRMP said Feb. 19. They competed for 15,358 fellowship roles across 6,606 programs.
In emergency radiology this year, there were 16 positions offered among eight different programs, with only four going filled. The subspecialty joined geriatric medicine, medical genetics, adolescent medicine, child abuse, and pediatricians in endocrinology, nephrology, and rehab medicine, all of which failed to hit the 50% mark.
NRMP said it added four new subspecialties to the process this year: bone and soft tissue, hemato- and molecular pathology, along with forensic psychiatry.
“It is gratifying to welcome new subspecialties every year and to provide the community with reports that advance the understanding of and planning for the future physician workforce,” NRMP President and CEO Donna L. Lamb, MBA, said in a statement.
Emergency radiology filled 25% of its available positions this near, according to NRMP. This represents a drop from the nearly 30% rate last year (on 27 positions). In other imaging-related subspecialties, neuroradiology remains highly desirable, offering the most positions in the specialty (327) and the highest fill rate (87%). This after offering 316 neuroradiology fellowships in 2025 and filling nearly 91%, up from 294 positions in 2024.
“This trend may reflect the recent job market showing a high demand for neuroradiologists and growth in the neuroradiology services at academic medical centers,” Francis Deng, MD—a Baltimore-based neuroradiologist, researcher and former NRMP board member—told Radiology Business by email Monday.
There also has been stable interest in neuroimaging, he added. This year, there were 300 applicants, compared to 301 in 2025 and 294 in 2024. Along with being the most-filled radiology subspecialty, it’s also the one with the highest ratio of applicants to positions, at 0.92. Deng believes the field remains an “attractive choice for radiology residents, even in this hot job market,” with some residents choosing to forego fellowships and entering attending jobs directly.
NRMP results also revealed a decline in popularity among two-year neuroradiology fellowship tracks. Prominent such programs at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford Medicine did not fill.
“The hot job market, even in academic neuroradiology, likely contributes to the perception of opportunity costs that make a two-year program less attractive,” Deng added.
Breast imaging offered a total of 221 fellowships and filled 82%, a slight increase from 204 and 79% in 2025. musculoskeletal radiology was next with 218 positions and a nearly 73% fill rate compared to 214 and 73% last year. And finally, interventional radiology filled 64% of its 146 fellowships compared to 159 and 59% in 2025.
Deng noted that IR has showed declines in the number of applicants and positions offered. This reflects a long-term trend of shifting positions from independent IR residencies (previously called fellowships) to integrated IR-diagnostic radiology residencies offered in the Main Residency Match. Emergency radiology, meanwhile, remains “unpopular as a fellowship choice as it struggles to define itself as a distinct subspecialty requiring unique training,” Deng said.
Neuroradiology and breast imaging were among a total of 49 subspecialties out of 86 that filled 75% or more of their open positions. Of those, 26 filled 90% or more, according to NRMP. About 82% of applicants matched and 84% of positions were filled overall. It should be noted that other major subspecialty fellowships do not participate in the NRMP, including body/abdominal/chest/cardiothoracic radiology, pediatric radiology, and nuclear radiology.
You can read much more about the 2026 Specialties Matching Service and find detailed data tables from the NRMP here.
Editor's Note: This story was updated Feb. 24 to include quotes from Francis Deng, MD.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.