Beyond the Match, Episode 1: Pay, Benefits, and Bargaining Power — Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

What does it say about a training system when childcare can eat up almost half a resident’s monthly salary — and the physicians doing essential clinical work have almost no ability to negotiate their pay or benefits? A recent House Judiciary Committee report argues that the Match suppresses resident compensation and bargaining power. But if the Match disappeared tomorrow, would residents actually get paid more? Join Mckenzie Roebuck, Maya Hunt, Nicole Santucci, and Michael Kabbash of CoSEF as they unpack resident pay and benefits, where GME funding actually goes, why residency is not a normal labor market, and where real leverage for change might come from.

Hosts:

Dr. Mckenzie Roebuck, CoSEF BTK Lead, Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, mckenzie.rowe@inova.org, insta @mrowemd, X @mrowemd1
Dr. Maya Hunt, Indiana University, mayahunt@iu.edu
Dr. Nicole Santucci, Washington University in St. Louis, snicole@wustl.edu
Dr. Michael Kabbash, University of Florida, michel.kabbash@surgery.ufl.edu, X @MichaelKabbash
CoSEF: X @surgedfellows, cosef.org

Learning objectives:

Summarize the congressional report’s arguments about resident compensation and bargaining power
Explain how GME funding supports residency and why federal GME dollars do not map directly onto resident salaries
Describe how salary and benefit structures affect residents’ financial well-being, family planning, and quality of life
Identify institutional, policy, and collective strategies to strengthen resident compensation and bargaining power.

References:

House Committee on the Judiciary. Medical Mis-Match: How a Residency Hiring Monopoly Harms Patients, Doctors, and the American Public. Published online March 27, 2026.
Association of American Medical Colleges. AAMC Survey of Resident/Fellow Stipends and Benefits. https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/students-residents/report/aamc-survey-resident/fellow-stipends-and-benefits.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Direct Graduate Medical Education (DGME). https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/prospective-payment-systems/acute-inpatient-pps/direct-graduate-medical-education-dgme.
Foote DC, Rosenblatt AE, Amortegui D, et al. Experiences With Unionization Among General Surgery Resident Physicians, Faculty, and Staff. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(7):e2421676. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.21676 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39018072/
Tomei KL, Selby LV, Kirk LM, et al. Beyond Training the Next Generation of Physicians: The Unmeasured Value Added by Residents to Teaching Hospitals and Communities. Acad Med. 2022;97(11):1592-1596. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35731593/ doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000004792
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Common Program Requirements. Accessed August 2026.https://www.acgme.org/programs-and-institutions/programs/common-program-requirements/.
Rigged or Right? The Residency Match Under Fire | podcast. Behind the Knife. https://behindtheknife.org/podcast/rigged-or-right-the-residency-match-under-fire.