Match Day is one of the most important milestones in medical education. It’s the day graduating medical students across the country learn where they will begin residency training, taking the next step from medical school into clinical practice. For Texas, that moment is about more than celebration. It is a reminder that building the physician workforce starts with making sure future doctors have high-quality places to train here at home, especially in a state where 224 of 254 counties are designated health professional shortage areas.
At Teaching Hospitals of Texas, Match Day is also a chance to recognize the member institutions that help power that pipeline. THOT members provide a major share of the graduate medical education training that Texas medical school graduates rely on, while also serving as critical clinical training sites for nursing, allied health, and other health professions students.
“Match Day is one of the most exciting days in medicine because it marks the beginning of the next chapter for so many future physicians,” said Maureen Milligan, PhD, president and CEO of Teaching Hospitals of Texas. “For Texas, it is also a powerful reminder that where training happens matters. When we invest in residency and fellowship opportunities in Texas, we are investing in the future health of our communities.”
Where physicians train strongly influences where they ultimately practice. Nationally, 55.7 percent of physicians who completed residency from 2015 through 2024 are practicing in the same state where they trained. Growing Texas’ physician workforce means creating additional training opportunities here at home.
Texas continues to invest in graduate medical education through multiple channels. The state’s GME Expansion Program has supported the creation of 508 new first-year residency positions since 2014, and the Legislature appropriated more than $300 million for GME expansion efforts for the 2026-2027 biennium. Texas also continues targeting support for rural residency training and forensic psychiatry fellowships, both of which are aimed at strengthening access in high-need areas and specialties. These are meaningful steps to build on to make sure the physician pipeline keeps up with the needs of a fast-growing state.
Every new residency placement represents a future physician, a future specialty, and potentially a future practice site for a Texas community that needs care. Teaching hospitals remain central to that mission. Supporting residency and fellowship training is one of the clearest ways to strengthen access, improve continuity of care, and prepare the physician workforce the state will need in the years ahead.
