Vocational Index

Career

Family medicine physicians

Care for whole families across a lifetime, from checkups to chronic illness.

$244,180
Median pay
+3.3%
Job growth, 2025–35
2,900
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

  • Prescribe or administer treatment, therapy, medication, vaccination, and other specialized medical care to treat or prevent illness, disease, or injury.
  • Order, perform, and interpret tests and analyze records, reports, and examination information to diagnose patients' condition.
  • Collect, record, and maintain patient information, such as medical history, reports, or examination results.
  • Monitor patients' conditions and progress and reevaluate treatments as necessary.
  • Explain procedures and discuss test results or prescribed treatments with patients.

The outlook

How the forecast changed this year

2024–34 edition+2.7%2025–35 edition+3.3%
Projected 10-year growth in last year's and this year's BLS projections. 3,300 → 2,900 openings a year.

The deeper question

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

What this work centers on

People & care
6.2
Ideas & analysis
6.1
Information & systems
4.0
Objects & tools
3.8
Persuasion & leadership
2.3
Creation & expression
1.4

O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.

The work

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

Responsibility

Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?

“Prescribe or administer treatment, therapy, medication, vaccination, and other specialized medical care to treat or prevent illness, disease, or injury.”

Development

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

Critical Thinking, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Writing.

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 $244,180 a year and 2,900 openings nationally each year.

Paths in

Degrees that lead here

  • MedicineCIP 51.1201
  • Osteopathic Medicine/OsteopathyCIP 51.1202
  • Family Medicine/Emergency Medicine Combined Specialty ProgramCIP 61.0104
  • Family Medicine/Osteopathic Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine Combined Specialty ProgramCIP 61.0105
  • Family Medicine/Preventive Medicine Combined Specialty ProgramCIP 61.0106
  • Family Medicine/Psychiatry Combined Specialty ProgramCIP 61.0107

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.