DMU Osteopathic, Podiatric Students Achieve 100% Residency Placement

Medical Organizations Continue to Seek DMU Graduates

West Des Moines, IA (03/26/2024) — The high quality of a Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences education and the students who pursue it was highly evident in March when 100% of the Class of 2024 students in DMU's osteopathic medicine and podiatric medicine programs successfully matched into residency programs.

This is the 22nd consecutive year that DMU's College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery graduates have achieved a 100% residency placement rate. The university's College of Osteopathic Medicine graduates have achieved a 100% placement rate for three consecutive years. The college's five-year average placement rate is 99.3%.

Residency placement rates are among the key criteria for evaluating medical schools. DMU's osteopathic and podiatric graduates have consistently exceeded national placement rates among their peer institutions.

"We are so proud of our students, their accomplishments and their drive to serve patients and communities," says DMU President and CEO Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D. "Our outstanding residency placement rates year after year, including the success of the Class of 2024, affirm that DMU graduates are ready to take on the roles and responsibilities of physicianship."

The university's College of Osteopathic Medicine continues to produce family medicine physicians who are highly needed in Iowa and nationally. Among the 205 osteopathic students in DMU's Class of 2024, the top specialties in which they placed are family medicine, 49; internal medicine, 38; emergency medicine, 29; anesthesiology, 16; psychiatry, 15; and pediatrics, 14. The top six states among the 35 states where their residencies are located are Iowa, 44; Michigan, 23; Illinois, 20; California and Minnesota, 12 each; and Wisconsin, 11.

According to the National Resident Matching Program, 50,413 osteopathic and allopathic medical students registered in the 2024 main residency match, an all-time high and an increase of 2,257 or 4.7% over last year. The rise in applicants was primarily driven by an increase of 1,986 non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates and 623 osteopathic seniors over last year.

U.S. D.O. seniors achieved a 92.3% match rate, an all-time high and an increase of 0.7 percentage points over last year.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine, 552 podiatric medical students applied for residency nationally. As of March 15, 545 - or 98.7% - successfully matched.

Located in West Des Moines, part of Iowa's capital metro, Des Moines University offers 10 graduate-level professional degree programs in anatomy, biomedical sciences, health care administration, occupational therapy, osteopathic medicine, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, podiatric medicine and public health. Founded in 1898, the institution offers superior academics in a collaborative environment. DMU students' scores on national examinations, pass rates on board certifications and match rates for medical residency programs are consistently higher than national averages and rates at peer institutions.