The National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) is a private, not-for-profit corporation established in 1952 to provide a uniform date of appointment to positions in graduate medical education (GME) in the United States. It is governed by its Board of Directors, which includes representatives from national medical and medical education organizations. Among the nineteen Board members are three medical students, three resident physicians, two graduate medical education program directors and one public member. Each year, the NRMP conducts a Main Residency Match® and more than twenty fellowship matches that are designed to optimize the rank-ordered choices of applicants and program directors. The NRMP is not an application processing service; rather, it provides an impartial venue for matching applicants' and programs' preferences for each other consistently. Each year, approximately 17,000 U.S. medical school students participate in the Main Residency Match. In addition, another 22,000 "independent" applicants compete for the approximately 29,000 available residency positions. Independent applicants include former graduates of U.S. medical schools, U.S. osteopathic students and graduates, Canadian students and graduates, and students and graduates of international medical schools. Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNRMP Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheNRMP