What does a Physician do?
Physicians' general responsibility is to check, diagnose, and treat a patient's condition to improve their overall wellness. A physician could be General Practitioners or Specialist Physicians, wherein General Practitioners are physicians who provide regular checkups for patients depending on their needs and refer them to a Specialist Physicians who are more skilled in a particular field of expertise for a thorough diagnosis. Physicians monitor a patient's medical history and ensure follow-up checkups to observe if the condition of a patient is changing over time. A physician may refer a patient to other health professionals for further examination as needed.
Physician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real physician resumes:
- Manage catheters and dress wounds.
- Maintain ACLS and BLS certifications.
- Treat complicated oncology cases in ICU and emergency.
- Schedule new, follow-up and diagnostic testing for cardiology patients.
- Attend radiation oncology clinic for new patients beginning treatment as well as follow-ups for returning patients.
- Schedule tests and procedures (including radiology, cardiology, and respiratory) utilizing the hospital and clinic computer systems.
- Practice include general medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology, and minor surgery.
- Offer medical consults in areas relate to general medicine, gynecology and obstetrics.
- Act as assistant surgeon/1st surgical assistant in emergency operative cases in general surgery, obstetrics, and orthopedics
- Provide urgent medical services including resuscitation, stabilization and assessment and diagnosis, treatment and referral as necessary.
- Provide acute & chronic medical care for veterans.
- Experience with Athena and NextGen electronic health records.
- Take patient's vital signs on pediatrics and adults.
- Administer first aid, CPR, and coordinate team effort.
- Full service office, including x-ray, lab and on site MRI.
Physician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Physicians are proficient in Patients, Surgery, and Patient Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Physicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 22%
Skilled at coordinating patient schedules, and dealing with the patients directly Demonstrated profound ability to provide excellent customer service repeatedly.
- Surgery, 8%
Established and cultivated a comprehensive database of Physicians within the General Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, and Anesthesiology specialties.
- Patient Care, 7%
Provided and managed direct patient care including physical examination, evaluation, assessment and treatment of children with immunological diseases.
- Internal Medicine, 6%
Worked in Maternity, Pediatrics, and Internal Medicine for emergency and non-Emergency ambulatory patients.
- Primary Care, 6%
Cared for patients in outpatient and primary care medical facility; practiced occupational medicine and assisted individuals suffering from industrial injuries.
- EMR, 6%
Learn Power Chart (EMR) Then Teach Power Chart (EMR) To Physicians Prior To Electronic System Going Live.
"patients," "surgery," and "patient care" are among the most common skills that physicians use at work. You can find even more physician responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a physician to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "physicians and surgeons need to be excellent communicators." Physicians often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "partnered with physician champions and communication leaders to keep the physician community updated on the emr project. "
Compassion. Many physician duties rely on compassion. "patients who are sick or injured may be in extreme pain or distress," so a physician will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways physician responsibilities rely on compassion: "cultivate a climate of trust and compassion for patients. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for physicians to perform their duties. For an example of how physician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "patients must receive appropriate treatment and medications." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a physician: "provide detailed home health assessments with risk stratification to senior citizens. ".
Dexterity. A big part of what physicians do relies on "dexterity." You can see how essential it is to physician responsibilities because "physicians and surgeons may work with very precise and sometimes sharp tools, and mistakes can have serious consequences." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical physician tasks: "gained extensive hands-on experience in all aspects of internal medicine and general medicine. "
Leadership skills. A commonly-found skill in physician job descriptions, "leadership skills" is essential to what physicians do. Physician responsibilities rely on this skill because "physicians who work in their own practice must manage a staff of other professionals." You can also see how physician duties rely on leadership skills in this resume example: "achieved excellent patients reviews skills used clinical, business administrative, marketing, leadership and team - player"
Physical stamina. While "physical stamina" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to physician responsibilities. Much of what a physician does relies on this skill, seeing as "physicians and surgeons should be comfortable lifting or turning disabled patients, or performing other physical tasks." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of physicians: "document ekg, lab, radiology, physical exam findings, etc. "
The three companies that hire the most physicians are:
- Octapharma Plasma518 physicians jobs
- Integrity Locums495 physicians jobs
- Community Health Systems486 physicians jobs
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Compare different physicians
Physician vs. Doctor
A doctor is a medical expert who diagnoses and treats illnesses and injuries, often specializing in particular areas. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting initial interviews and examinations, studying a patient's medical history and laboratory results, providing consultations and care advice, prescribing medication, and referring patients to specialists when necessary. They must also coordinate and maintain an active communication line with nurses, administrators, and technicians for a smooth workflow. Moreover, a doctor must educate patients about their health conditions, helping them understand their situation better.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a physician are more likely to require skills like "rehabilitation," "urgent care," "obstetrics," and "cardiology." On the other hand, a job as a doctor requires skills like "dr," "strong work ethic," "cleanliness," and "physical therapy." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Doctors really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $178,767. Comparatively, physicians tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $169,042.doctors tend to reach similar levels of education than physicians. In fact, doctors are 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 6.0% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Physician vs. Family practice doctor
Family practice doctors provide lifelong care for a patient and their family. They offer medical attention to all family members, educates patients on disease prevention, provide health maintenance, and ensure mental and emotional needs are met. They manage basic complaints, like colds or flus, and also treat chronic illnesses, like asthma, diabetes, or degenerative conditions. They provide ongoing personalized care. Doctors must be empathetic, professional, and knowledgeable.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that physician responsibilities requires skills like "primary care," "emr," "rehabilitation," and "family practice." But a family practice doctor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "family medicine," "outpatient clinic," "disease prevention," and "health promotion."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Family practice doctors tend to reach similar levels of education than physicians. In fact, they're 3.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 6.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Physicians in the next 3-5 years?
Janet Williams Ph.D.
Professor of Biology, College of Our Lady of the Elms
Possibly, a little further out, will be genome sequencing to determine health risks for patients. It might even be able to prescribe lifestyle and nutrition best-practices for individuals, based on their genetics.
Physician vs. Chiropractor, sole practitioner
A family practice MD is responsible for monitoring and diagnosing patients' conditions of all ages. Family practice MDs identify the patients' medical histories and administer treatment plans and medications. They also coordinate with other medical professionals for further laboratory examinations. A family practice MD must have excellent communication and extensive knowledge of the medical industry to identify the best treatment methods for the patients. Family practice MDs keep an organized record of medical charts for reference and reports.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a physician is likely to be skilled in "patients," "surgery," "patient care," and "internal medicine," while a typical chiropractor, sole practitioner is skilled in "litigation," "real estate transactions," "probate," and "bench trials."
Most chiropractors, sole practitioner achieve a similar degree level compared to physicians. For example, they're 3.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 25.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Physician vs. Family practice md
Even though a few skill sets overlap between physicians and family practice mds, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a physician might have more use for skills like "surgery," "rehabilitation," "urgent care," and "emergency medicine." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of family practice mds require skills like "gyn," "exam rooms," "injections," and "chronic disease. "
Family practice mds enjoy the best pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $207,373. For comparison, physicians earn the highest salary in the health care industry.The average resume of family practice mds showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to physicians. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 2.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 12.1%.Types of physician
Updated January 8, 2025
