Medical Residency in California

California specific initial medical license requirements

Medical Board of California requirements:
  • Minimum 3 years of postgraduate training. At least 4 months general medicine and 24 months continuously within the same program.
  • Maximum 4 attempts at USMLE Step 3. Or held license in another state 4 years. (California BPC § 2177, 2135.5)
  • Passing scores shall be valid for a period of 10 years from the month of the examination.
  • The acceptance of FCVS(Federation Credentials Verification Service) is limited.
Osteopathic Medical Board of California requirements:
  • 1 year of postgraduate training.
  • No limit for number of attempts on COMLEX
  • No time limit for COMLEX
  • The acceptance of FCVS is limited.

PGY-1 residency positions in California

Number of  positions by specialty in California based on PGY-1 main residency Match data

Top size residency programs in California by specialty

Specialty ID Program






























































































Search residency programs by criteria to find all the programs you really need!

Percent MD,DO,IMG residents matched PGY-1 in California (main match)

Percent of MDs, DOs and IMGs in California by year

California PGY-1 main residency Match statistics

Year Positions Filled(%) MD DO IMGs
2023 3395 96.9 2267 (66%) 538 (15%) 468 (13%)
2022 3305 95.9 2231 (67%) 510 (15%) 398 (12%)
2021 3210 96.9 2223 (69%) 466 (14%) 408 (12%)
2020 3026 97.0 2174 (71%) 388 (12%) 364 (12%)
2019 2948 96.2 2149 (72%) 348 (11%) 336 (11%)
2018 2765 96.5 2122 (76%) 267 (9%) 279 (10%)
2017 2597 97.8 2068 (79%) 229 (8%) 240 (9%)

PGY-2 residency positions in California

  1. Radiology-diagnostic (96)
  2. Anesthesiology (46)
  3. Dermatology (46)
  4. Physical medicine and rehabilitation (26)
  5. Radiation oncology (25)
  6. Neurology (20)
  7. Interventional radiology - integrated (9)
  8. Child neurology (1)
Number of  positions by specialty in California based on PGY-2 main residency Match data

Percent MD,DO,IMG residents matched PGY-2 in California (main match)

Percent of MDs, DOs and IMGs in California by year

California PGY-2 main residency Match statistics

Year Positions Filled(%) MD DO IMGs
2023 269 99.3 253 (94%) 11 (4%) 3 (1%)
2022 283 98.6 260 (91%) 10 (3%) 9 (3%)
2021 292 98.6 249 (85%) 19 (6%) 19 (6%)
2020 283 97.5 252 (89%) 13 (4%) 10 (3%)
2019 278 97.8 255 (91%) 10 (3%) 7 (2%)
2018 274 99.3 261 (95%) 2 (0.7%) 9 (3%)
2017 275 97.5 253 (92%) 6 (2%) 9 (3%)

Research Programs