Vocational Index

Career

Emergency medicine physicians

Treat patients in the emergency room, whatever comes through the door.

$335,550
Median pay
+3.2%
Job growth, 2025–35
900
Openings a year
Doctoral or professional degree
Typical education
7–8 years
Typical time after high school

Here's what you actually need to know.

The work

What people in this job do

  • 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.

The outlook

How the forecast changed this year

2024–34 edition+2.7%2025–35 edition+3.2%
Projected 10-year growth in last year's and this year's BLS projections. 1,000 → 900 openings a year.

The deeper question

What kind of person does this path ask you to become?

What this work centers on

Ideas & analysis
5.6
People & care
5.6
Information & systems
4.2
Objects & tools
4.2
Persuasion & leadership
2.7
Creation & expression
1.0

O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.

The work

Do you want most of your days spent on ideas & analysis, then people & care?

Responsibility

Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?

“Select, request, perform, or interpret diagnostic procedures, such as laboratory tests, electrocardiograms, emergency ultrasounds, and radiographs.”

Development

What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?

Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Social Perceptiveness.

Trade-offs

What does it ask of you in exchange?

7–8 years of education after high school (doctoral or professional degree), for a median of $335,550 a year and 900 openings nationally each year.

Paths in

Degrees that lead here

  • MedicineCIP 51.1201
  • Osteopathic Medicine/OsteopathyCIP 51.1202
  • Emergency Medicine/Anesthesiology Combined Specialty ProgramCIP 61.0103
  • Family Medicine/Emergency Medicine Combined Specialty ProgramCIP 61.0104
  • Internal Medicine/Emergency Medicine Combined Specialty ProgramCIP 61.0110
  • Internal Medicine/Emergency Medicine/Critical Care Medicine Combined Specialty ProgramCIP 61.0111

Paths across

Careers that use similar skills

Ask anything about this career.

“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.

Not sure this fits who you are? Start with Vocational Finder →

Sources

  1. BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  2. BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  3. O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  4. CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.