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Emergency Medicine Physicians

Emergency Medicine Physicians: Career Profile

Make immediate medical decisions and act to prevent death or further disability. Provide immediate recognition, evaluation, care, stabilization, and disposition of patients. May direct emergency medical staff in an emergency department.

The Daily Work of Emergency Medicine Physicians Do?

The day-to-day responsibilities of emergency medicine physicians span:

  • Select, request, perform, or interpret diagnostic procedures, such as laboratory tests, electrocardiograms, emergency ultrasounds, and radiographs.
  • Evaluate patients' vital signs or laboratory data to determine emergency intervention needs and priority of treatment.
  • Perform emergency resuscitations on patients.
  • Stabilize patients in critical condition.
  • Perform such medical procedures as emergent cricothyrotomy, endotracheal intubation, and emergency thoracotomy.
  • Analyze records, examination information, or test results to diagnose medical conditions.
  • Consult with hospitalists and other professionals, such as social workers, regarding patients' hospital admission, continued observation, transition of care, or discharge.
  • Conduct primary patient assessments that include information from prior medical care.

What Emergency Medicine Physicians Need to Know

Successful emergency medicine physicians combine a mix of skills and domain knowledge.

Most Important Skills

The abilities most central to this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Critical Thinking  4.4 / 5
0
5
Active Listening  4.4 / 5
0
5
Social Perceptiveness  4.2 / 5
0
5
Speaking  4.2 / 5
0
5
Reading Comprehension  4.2 / 5
0
5
Monitoring  4.1 / 5
0
5

Knowledge Areas

Medicine and Dentistry  5.0 / 5
0
5
English Language  4.8 / 5
0
5
Biology  4.5 / 5
0
5
Psychology  4.4 / 5
0
5
Therapy and Counseling  4.0 / 5
0
5
Customer and Personal Service  3.9 / 5
0
5

Other Emergency Medicine Physicians Job Titles

People in this occupation may also be known by titles such as:

  • Attending Emergency Physician
  • Attending Physician
  • Critical Care Intensivist
  • Critical Care Intensivist Physician
  • Critical Care Physician
  • Disaster Medicine Physician
  • ER Doctor (Emergency Room Doctor)
  • ER Physician (Emergency Room Physician)

Job Outlook

The U.S. employs around 2,333,594 emergency medicine physicians working in the United States today. Demand is forecast to decline by -2.4% over the projection horizon.

Forecasted number of jobs for Emergency Medicine Physicians

Salary for Emergency Medicine Physicians

Statistic Value
Annual median $59,902
Hourly median $28.80
10th percentile $39,580
25th percentile $49,741
75th percentile $70,062
90th percentile $80,223

Compensation varies based on experience, location, and industry.

Salary ranges for Emergency Medicine Physicians

Emergency Medicine Physicians Salary by State

State Annual median salary
Kentucky $239,100
Oklahoma $178,900
Alaska $168,040
California $158,100
Georgia $139,990
Utah $137,530

Where Emergency Medicine Physicians Earn the Most

Earnings for emergency medicine physicians differ across the country. The following regions pay the most:

Region Median annual wage Share of U.S. jobs Location quotient
Southeast $80,646 24.7% 2.06
Far Western US $23,415 4.5% 2.03
Southwest $20,642 4.8% 0.84

Top Metro Areas

Metro area State Median annual wage Employment
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN OH $220,570 350
Syracuse, NY NY $203,470 100
Oklahoma City, OK OK $178,900 80
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC NC $172,640 50
Salt Lake City-Murray, UT UT $142,560
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA GA $139,990 2,760
Rochester, NY NY $72,690 140

Industry Breakdown

The bulk of emergency medicine physicians work in these industries:

Industry Employment Median annual wage
Health Care and Social Assistance 32,250 n/a
Educational Services 590 $73,250
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 410 n/a
Management of Companies and Enterprises 210 n/a
Emergency Medicine Physicians sectors

Below are examples of industries where emergency medicine physicians work:

Emergency Medicine Physicians industries

Tools and Technology

  • Medical software: Epic Systems (hot technology)
  • Medical software: MEDITECH software (hot technology)

Work Environment

The work environment for emergency medicine physicians reflects the following characteristics:

  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
  • Exposed to Disease or Infections
  • Contact With Others
  • Telephone Conversations
  • Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams

Getting Started in This Career

This career aligns with Extensive Preparation Needed (Job Zone 5), reflecting the level of preparation typically expected.

Similar Occupations

Similar Occupations

Where to Study

Future emergency medicine physicians commonly pursue programs in:

13 programs across 4 majors

2 programs across 1 majors

References

Data on this page comes from the following authoritative sources:

  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
  • BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
  • O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.

SOC code: 29-1214.00 (Emergency Medicine Physicians).

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