Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code ISR

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians

Diagnose and treat disorders requiring physiotherapy to provide physical, mental, and occupational rehabilitation.

Also called: MD (Medical Doctor), Physiatrist, Physician, PM and R MD (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Medical Doctor), Acute Rehabilitation Unit Physiatrist, Attending Physician, EDX Medicine MD (Electrodiagnostic Medicine Medical Doctor), Pain Management Physician.

O*NET 29-1229.04

At a glance

US median annual pay: $265,930; Middle half earn $102,930 to $378,770. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Doctoral Degree; 55% 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.

Document examination results, treatment plans, and patients' outcomes.
Examine patients to assess mobility, strength, communication, or cognition.
Develop comprehensive plans for immediate and long-term rehabilitation, including therapeutic exercise, speech and occupational therapy, counseling, cognitive retraining, patient, family or caregiver education, or community reintegration.
Assess characteristics of patients' pain, such as intensity, location, or duration, using standardized clinical measures.
Monitor effectiveness of pain management interventions, such as medication or spinal injections.
Provide inpatient or outpatient medical management of neuromuscular disorders, musculoskeletal trauma, acute and chronic pain, deformity or amputation, cardiac or pulmonary disease, or other disabling conditions.
Consult or coordinate with other rehabilitative professionals, including physical and occupational therapists, rehabilitation nurses, speech pathologists, neuropsychologists, behavioral psychologists, social workers, or medical technicians.
Prescribe orthotic and prosthetic applications and adaptive equipment, such as wheelchairs, bracing, or communication devices, to maximize patient function and self-sufficiency.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Critical Thinking4.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Writing3.9 / 5
Monitoring3.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Medicine and Dentistry4.9 / 5
English Language4.1 / 5
Psychology4.0 / 5
Biology3.9 / 5
Therapy and Counseling3.8 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.5 / 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.

Realistic65
Investigative88
Artistic15
Social83
Enterprising12
Conventional33

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)

specialised doctor · DE Facharzt/Fachärztin · FR médecin spécialiste
advanced physiotherapist · DE Fachphysiotherapeut/Fachphysiotherapeutin · FR expert physiothérapeute/experte physiothérapeute
physiotherapist · DE Physiotherapeut/Physiotherapeutin · FR physiothérapeute

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Physiotherapists (2221)73,700 employed
Specialist medical practitioners and consultants (2212)154,900 employed
Generalist medical practitioners (2211)197,900 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.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “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, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

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.

Take the career interests test