Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code ISC

Emergency Medicine Physicians

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.

Also called: Attending Emergency Physician, Emergency Medicine Physician (EM Physician), Emergency Physician, Physician, Attending Physician, Emergency MD (Emergency Medicine Doctor), MD (Medical Doctor).

O*NET 29-1214.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $335,550; Middle half earn $184,830 to $418,890. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Post-Doctoral Training; 62% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 5 of 5; Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.
Analyze records, examination information, or test results to diagnose medical conditions.
Consult with hospitalists and other professionals, such as social workers, regarding patients' hospital admission, continued observation, transition of care, or discharge.
Conduct primary patient assessments that include information from prior medical care.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.4 / 5
Critical Thinking4.4 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.3 / 5
Speaking4.3 / 5
Writing4.1 / 5
Monitoring4.1 / 5

Knowledge areas

Medicine and Dentistry5.0 / 5
English Language4.8 / 5
Biology4.5 / 5
Psychology4.4 / 5
Therapy and Counseling4.0 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.9 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic53
Investigative77
Artistic0
Social77
Enterprising28
Conventional54

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

general practitioner · DE Arzt für Allgemeinmedizin/Ärztin für Allgemeinmedizin · FR médecin généraliste
specialised doctor · DE Facharzt/Fachärztin · FR médecin spécialiste
advanced nurse practitioner · DE Akademischer Krankenpfleger/Akademische Krankenschwester · FR infirmier de pratique avancée/infirmière de pratique avancée
advanced physiotherapist · DE Fachphysiotherapeut/Fachphysiotherapeutin · FR expert physiothérapeute/experte physiothérapeute
clinical perfusion scientist · DE Fachassistent Herz-Kreislauf-Funktionsdiagnostik/Fachassistentin Herz-Kreislauf-Funktionsdiagnostik · FR perfusionniste clinique
emergency ambulance driver · DE Rettungshelfer/Rettungshelferin · FR ambulancier urgentiste/ambulancière urgentiste

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Generalist medical practitioners (2211)197,900 employed
Registered community nurses (2232)70,400 employed
Registered specialist nurses (2233)82,300 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Japan

Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “医師”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.

Median monthly pay: ¥971,300; Middle half earn ¥666,600 to ¥1,338,000 a month.
Workers in the category: 145,170; Regular employees in firms of ten or more.

Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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