SOC 29-1229.02

    Hospitalists

    Provide inpatient care predominantly in settings such as medical wards, acute care units, intensive care units, rehabilitation centers, or emergency rooms.

    Median pay
    $265,930
    Growth
    +3.4%
    As fast as average
    Openings a year
    9,400
    Typical education
    Doctoral or professional degree

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections · figures for the broader BLS group "Physicians, all other"

    See the pathway

    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $69,170
    Median
    $265,930
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $452,360
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    342,720 people work in this occupation.

    In short

    Hospitalists are medical doctors who manage and coordinate inpatient care in settings like medical wards, intensive care units, and emergency rooms. This career requires extensive medical training and offers a median annual pay of $265,930.

    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 hospitalists do

    Job Zone 5: Extensive preparation

    Provide inpatient care predominantly in settings such as medical wards, acute care units, intensive care units, rehabilitation centers, or emergency rooms. Manage and coordinate patient care throughout treatment.

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

    What the work is like

    Hospitalists spend their days providing direct care to patients admitted to hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and acute care units. They gather patient information, analyze data, and make critical decisions to solve complex medical problems. Daily tasks include documenting patient records, updating their medical knowledge, and communicating treatment plans to patients, families, and other healthcare staff.

    This role is highly social and relies on building strong interpersonal relationships. Success in this field requires skills like active listening, critical thinking, social perceptiveness, and complex problem solving. Hospitalists must have deep knowledge of medicine, biology, psychology, and therapy. To handle the fast-paced hospital environment, these professionals must demonstrate high stress tolerance, attention to detail, dependability, empathy, and adaptability.

    How to get there

    Entering this career requires a high level of preparation. Candidates typically need a doctoral or professional degree, such as a Medical Doctor (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree. Common college majors that lead to this profession include medicine, medical clinical sciences, graduate medical studies, and multiple-pathway medical fellowship programs.

    After completing medical school, hospitalists undergo extensive residency and clinical training. Some states list a license for this work, which is standard for practicing medicine. Professionals can also pursue specialized certifications to demonstrate their expertise. Examples of these credentials include the Hospital Medicine certification from the American Board of Physician Specialties, the Sleep Medicine certification from the American Board of Internal Medicine, and the Vascular Access-Board Certified credential from the Vascular Access Certification Corporation.

    Pay and outlook explained

    The median annual pay for hospitalists is $265,930, though this figure represents the broader group of all other physicians. Earnings can vary significantly based on experience and location; the lowest 10% of earners in this category make less than $69,170, while the highest 10% earn more than $452,360.

    There are 342,720 people employed in this field. Between 2025 and 2035, employment is projected to grow by 3.4%, which is as fast as the average for all occupations. This growth is expected to result in approximately 9,400 job openings each year.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R)
    43 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    60 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    11 / 100
    Social (S) · strongest
    88 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    36 / 100
    Conventional (C)
    48 / 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 SIC. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Assisting and Caring for Others
    96
    Documenting/Recording Information
    95
    Getting Information
    95
    Making Decisions and Solving Problems
    95
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    94
    Processing Information
    93
    Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
    91
    Analyzing Data or Information
    91
    Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others
    89
    Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
    89
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

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

    Knowledge

    • Medicine and Dentistry
    • Biology
    • English Language
    • Psychology
    • Education and Training
    • Therapy and Counseling
    • Customer and Personal Service
    • Administration and Management
    • Computers and Electronics
    • Sociology and Anthropology

    Abilities

    • Inductive Reasoning
    • Oral Comprehension
    • Oral Expression
    • Written Comprehension
    • Deductive Reasoning
    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Speech Clarity
    • Written Expression
    • Near Vision
    • Speech Recognition

    Work styles

    • Attention to Detail
    • Dependability
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Integrity
    • Cooperation
    • Cautiousness
    • Empathy
    • Self-Control
    • Leadership Orientation
    • Adaptability

    Also called

    Academic Hospitalist · Consultant Physician · DO Physician (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Physician) · Hospitalist · Hospitalist Medical Doctor (Hospitalist MD) · Hospitalist Nocturnist Physician · Hospitalist Physician · Intensivist · Internal Medicine Hospitalist · MD (Medical Doctor)

    Career pathway

    From your interests to hospitalists

    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

      • Hospitalists$265,930 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 hospitalists may need beyond a degree, where a license is required, and what the work pays in each state.

    Certifications

    Core certifications employers recognise for this work.

    Search all certifications on CareerOneStop

    Training

    Programs of study that prepare people for this work. Showing 12 of 63.

    • Adolescent Medicine Fellowship Program
    • Aerospace Medicine Residency Program
    • Allergy and Immunology Fellowship Program
    • Allergy and Immunology Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other
    • Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Program
    • Clinical Biochemical Genetics Residency Program
    • Clinical Genetics and Genomics Residency Program
    • Combined Medical Residency/Fellowship Program, General
    • Combined Medical Residency/Fellowship Programs, Other
    • Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism Fellowship Program
    • Family Medicine/Osteopathic Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine Combined Specialty Program
    • Family Medicine/Preventive Medicine Combined Specialty Program

    Find training near you on CareerOneStop

    Licenses by state

    52 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 9, 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 hospitalists

    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 job titles for hospitalists?

    People in this profession are also called academic hospitalists, consultant physicians, hospitalist medical doctors, hospitalist nocturnist physicians, intensivists, and internal medicine hospitalists.

    What are the main interest areas and work styles for this job?

    The strongest interest area for this career is social, as it focuses on assisting and caring for others. Important work styles include integrity, cooperation, cautiousness, self-control, and a strong leadership orientation.

    What other medical careers are similar to a hospitalist?

    Related careers in the healthcare field include general internal medicine physicians, emergency medicine physicians, family medicine physicians, pediatricians, nurse practitioners, and obstetricians.

    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 9, 2026.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.