WASHINGTON — A new analysis by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Research and Action Institute shows since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, disproportionately fewer graduates of U.S. medical schools applied to residency programs in states with restricted abortion access than in states where the procedure is legal.

What You Need To Know

  • A report shows since 2022, disproportionately fewer med school graduates applied to residency programs in states with abortion restrictions

  • Abortion is banned in Kentucky 

  • Kentucky saw a 15% decrease in residency program applicants of all specialties in the past year compared to the previous application cycle, a new analysis shows

  • The average for all states was a 10% decline

“The biggest finding was that even with slight fluctuations in the way that people apply, there seemed to be a disproportionate drop-off in the unique applicants that were applying to states like Kentucky, where abortion had been banned or severely limited,” said the report’s co-author, Atul Grover, executive director of the AAMC Research and Action Institute.

Kentucky saw a 15% decrease in residency program applicants of all specialties in the past year compared to the previous application cycle, while the average for all states was a 10% decline, Grover said.

There has been an even sharper drop-off for OB-GYN training program applicants in recent years, he said.  

“Over the past three years, you're probably seeing about a 25% drop, which means that the programs in Kentucky have far fewer candidates to choose from, and they may not be able to choose the real people that they thought were best to choose for that program, for that community and for the patients,” Grover said.

But he noted with just two years of data, it’s a very brief trend.

“I'm not asking the same people at a time together, ‘Why did you make this choice?’" Grover said. "However, given the sweeping changes that we've seen post-Dobbs, we think it's pretty likely that this is a big factor, if not the biggest factor, in why people are avoiding states that have severe limitations on reproductive health care.”

State Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, who is also a doctor, said the abortion ban exacerbates the state’s health care provider shortage, and Kentucky is sending “our best and our brightest everywhere else.”

Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, said in a statement, “The decision to practice medicine should be motivated by a genuine commitment to this science and healing profession, rather than being influenced by personal beliefs or prejudices that favor the termination of preborn Kentuckians.’’

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