COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — As medical students and their families celebrate National Match Day, there’s a specialty not getting as much interest as it used to.

Fewer students applied for residencies in emergency medicine in the last two application cycles, according to program leaders at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

“It’s concerning, but we’re not panicked, I think it’s multifactorial,” said Dr. Krystin Miller, the assistant residency program director for emergency medicine residency at the Wexner Medical Center.

Miller said applicants may have been scared away by a report in a national medical journal that predicted by 2030 that there would be more emergency doctors than jobs available. She acknowledges that the pandemic and overall work environment could also be reasons for the decline in interest. The numbers aren’t just down at the Wexner Medical Center — it’s a nationwide trend.

“We’re not concerned there’s going to be no emergency room providers when you show up to your local emergency department, there’s still certainly well-qualified and well-trained providers in all departments,” said Miller.

It’s days like Friday that make her and other program leaders hopeful. National Match Day is when medical students find out where they’ll complete their residencies.

One of those ecstatic students is Mary Feliu, a third-year medical student at Ohio State who will complete her emergency medicine residency at the Wexner Medical Center.

“I can’t believe I am staying here, I really love our emergency medicine program here and I can’t stop thinking about, ‘Oh my gosh, they love me just as much as I love them,’ so I’m very excited,” Feliu said. “I feel it’s the one area of medicine where all of my interests kind of come together, and that is the reason why I wanted to do emergency medicine.”

Miller said all of the emergency medicine residency spots at Ohio State are filled, but that’s not the case at all hospitals. She’s expecting application numbers to be back up next year.