SOC 29-1214.00

    Emergency Medicine Physicians

    Make immediate medical decisions and act to prevent death or further disability.

    Median pay
    $335,550
    Growth
    +3.2%
    As fast as average
    Openings a year
    900
    Typical education
    Doctoral or professional degree

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

    See the pathway

    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $103,610
    Median
    $335,550
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $495,910
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    32,880 people work in this occupation.

    In short

    Emergency medicine physicians provide immediate medical care to stabilize patients and prevent death or further disability, earning a median annual pay of $335,550. They make quick decisions in emergency departments and may direct other medical staff.

    Written with AI from the BLS, O*NET and CareerOneStop data on this page. Every figure is checked against that data before it is published.

    What emergency medicine physicians do

    Job Zone 5: Extensive preparation

    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.

    Most need a graduate degree, such as a master's, PhD, MD or JD.

    What the work is like

    People in this career work in fast-paced environments where they must quickly recognize, evaluate, and treat patients in critical condition. Day-to-day activities revolve around making decisions, solving complex problems, and getting information directly from patients or medical charts. These physicians analyze data, interpret medical information for others, and document patient records. They must work directly with the public, which requires establishing strong interpersonal relationships and assisting and caring for others.

    Success in this field requires strong skills in active listening, critical thinking, speaking, and social perceptiveness. Because they must make rapid judgments, these doctors rely heavily on their knowledge of medicine, biology, psychology, therapy, and chemistry. They also need a solid understanding of public safety, security, and customer service. An investigative interest area is highly valuable for this role. To handle the high-pressure environment of an emergency department, these professionals must demonstrate work styles such as stress tolerance, self-control, attention to detail, dependability, and adaptability.

    How to get there

    Entering this career requires extensive preparation. The typical education needed to enter the field is a doctoral or professional degree. Most individuals in this occupation hold a graduate degree, such as an MD. Students preparing for this career typically major in medicine or pursue multiple-pathway medical fellowship programs.

    After completing their medical degree, these professionals must undergo years of residency and hands-on training to gain the necessary clinical experience. Depending on where they plan to practice, licensing is an important step, as some states list a license for this work. This career is closely related to other medical roles such as pediatric surgeons, family medicine physicians, general internal medicine physicians, pediatricians, and physician assistants.

    Pay and outlook explained

    The median annual pay for emergency medicine physicians is $335,550. Earnings can vary significantly based on experience and location, with the lowest 10% earning less than $103,610 and the highest 10% earning more than $495,910.

    There are 32,880 people employed in this field. Between 2025 and 2035, employment is projected to grow by 3.2%, which is as fast as average for all occupations. This growth is expected to result in 900 job openings each year.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R)
    53 / 100
    Investigative (I) · strongest
    77 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    0 / 100
    Social (S)
    77 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    28 / 100
    Conventional (C)
    54 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code ISC. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Making Decisions and Solving Problems
    98
    Assisting and Caring for Others
    97
    Getting Information
    96
    Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others
    94
    Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
    94
    Documenting/Recording Information
    93
    Performing for or Working Directly with the Public
    93
    Analyzing Data or Information
    90
    Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
    88
    Processing Information
    86
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Active Listening
    • Critical Thinking
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Social Perceptiveness
    • Speaking
    • Complex Problem Solving
    • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Monitoring
    • Service Orientation
    • Writing

    Knowledge

    • Medicine and Dentistry
    • English Language
    • Biology
    • Psychology
    • Therapy and Counseling
    • Customer and Personal Service
    • Education and Training
    • Public Safety and Security
    • Chemistry
    • Mathematics

    Abilities

    • Oral Comprehension
    • Oral Expression
    • Written Comprehension
    • Written Expression
    • Deductive Reasoning
    • Inductive Reasoning
    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Speech Clarity
    • Speech Recognition
    • Information Ordering

    Work styles

    • Attention to Detail
    • Self-Control
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Dependability
    • Integrity
    • Cautiousness
    • Adaptability
    • Cooperation
    • Perseverance
    • Self-Confidence

    Also called

    Attending Emergency Physician · Attending Physician · Critical Care Intensivist · Critical Care Intensivist Physician · Critical Care Physician · Disaster Medicine Physician · Emergency Department Doctor (ED Doctor) · Emergency Department Physician (ED Physician) · Emergency Doctor · Emergency MD (Emergency Medicine Doctor)

    Career pathway

    From your interests to emergency medicine physicians

    Interests that fit the work, the career, majors that lead there and colleges whose graduates in those majors earn the most. Hover or focus a step to follow one path.

    1. Interests

    2. This career

      • Emergency Medicine Physicians$335,550 median pay

    3. Majors

    NCES CIP–SOC crosswalk

    Majors that lead here

    Related programs by four-digit CIP code. They are common routes in, not the only ones.

    CareerOneStop

    Certifications, licenses and pay by state

    What emergency medicine physicians may need beyond a degree, where a license is required, and what the work pays in each state.

    Training

    Programs of study that prepare people for this work. Showing 12 of 15.

    • Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program
    • Disaster Medicine Fellowship Program
    • Emergency Medical Services Fellowship Program
    • Emergency Medicine Residency Program
    • Emergency Medicine Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other
    • Emergency Medicine/Anesthesiology Combined Specialty Program
    • Family Medicine/Emergency Medicine Combined Specialty Program
    • Internal Medicine/Emergency Medicine Combined Specialty Program
    • Internal Medicine/Emergency Medicine/Critical Care Medicine Combined Specialty Program
    • Medicine
    • Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy
    • Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program

    Find training near you on CareerOneStop

    Licenses by state

    53 states list a license for this work. Open your state for the license and the agency that issues it.

    Federal

    Check license requirements on CareerOneStop

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Your plan

    Build my pathway plan

    Courses, majors, colleges, scholarships and a timeline for this career, built from your profile.

    Related careers

    Careers with similar work, interests or skills.

    All careers

    Questions about emergency medicine physicians

    Written with AI from the BLS, O*NET and CareerOneStop data on this page. Every figure is checked against that data before it is published.

    What are some alternative titles for emergency medicine physicians?

    These professionals are also referred to as attending emergency physicians, emergency department doctors, critical care physicians, and disaster medicine physicians.

    How many job openings are expected each year for this role?

    There are projected to be 900 job openings each year for this career. This comes alongside an employment growth rate of 3.2% from 2025 to 2035.

    What college majors are relevant to this career?

    Students aiming for this career typically major in medicine. They may also complete multiple-pathway medical fellowship programs to prepare for the role.

    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.