PURPOSE: To determine the degree of knowledge that medical students applying to the St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center anesthesiology residency program had regarding the core physician competencies mandated by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. METHOD: As a part of the department's annual resident-selection process, in the fall of 2008, 193 interviewed fourth-year U.S. MD-degree medical students applying to the St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center anesthesiology program were given a brief, written questionnaire to determine their knowledge of the six core physician competencies. The instructions for completing the instrument were standardized and delivered to the applicants by one of the program directors. RESULTS: A total of 193 applicants completed the interview questionnaire. Seventy-six had no knowledge of any of the physician competencies, and only three were able to correctly identify all six. CONCLUSIONS: While this research is an observation of only one set of applicants to one residency program, if the findings are applicable to other programs and specialties, that suggests that medical schools and residency program directors should develop methods for increasing competency awareness among medical students.