I;'m getting ready to submit my app for a FM residency next year, so the following is what I've picked up during my research:
FM programs across the country didn't fill in the match last year. In the past few years, the percentage of students going into FM has gone down steadily. There's a chart on scutwork.com showing residencies by state, region, and overall - search that out (I am too lazy to find the link, sorry!) and you will see that something like >20% of FM residency positions didn't fill in the 2003 match.
and that answers your question. Not terrifically competitive.
However, what has been stressed to me is that, while your board scores don't need to be way up there, nor do you need to be AOA, you need to be a good "people person," the sort of person that the docs in the program are going to be willing to sic on their patients - whole families worth of patients! Being friendly, personable, well-regarded for your interpersonal skills, as well as being a solid student, will make you a good candidate for FM.
And don't forget that competitiveness will vary hugely by program, of course.
Oh, as far as family practice is concerned, it looks like D.O. = M.D. even here in the urban northeast.
