How to become an Intensive Care Specialist
Also called: Intensive Care Medicine Specialist, Intensivist
Investigates, diagnoses and treats patients in need of intensive and critical care.
Main tasks
- Examines and manages critically ill patients with life-threatening organ system failure, those at risk of clinical deterioration, as well as those requiring resuscitation
- Manages patients in an intensive care or high dependency unit, and maintains precise patient records
- Monitors and adjusts ventilation settings for patients on life support, and prescribes and administers medications and treatments
- Requests laboratory tests and diagnostic procedures, and analyses results with other medical information to make diagnoses
- Oversees end-of-life care and the diagnosis of brain death
Ways in
- University: Medicine & Dentistry degrees, Offered by 34 universities in Australia
- Licence or registration: Registration or licensing is required.
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Typical full-time pay: $188,240 a year
- About 16,100 people work in this job group now, and about 21,400 are projected by 2035. (+32.8%)
- AI is more likely to help with parts of this job than to do it. Jobs and Skills Australia rates its automation exposure as low.
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Questions people ask
How do I become an Intensive Care Specialist?
Ways in include: Medicine & Dentistry degrees.
How much does an Intensive Care Specialist earn in Australia?
Median full-time pay is $188,240 a year (Jobs and Skills Australia).
Is an Intensive Care Specialist a growing career in Australia?
Yes. Employment is projected to grow 33% by 2035, from about 16,100 to about 21,400 people (Jobs and Skills Australia).
Do you need a degree to become an Intensive Care Specialist?
Usually. 95% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Will AI change the work of an Intensive Care Specialist?
AI is more likely to help with parts of this job than to do it. Jobs and Skills Australia rates its automation exposure as low.
Sources
- Jobs and Skills Australia: Occupation data (ANZSCO), from ABS Labour Force and Census (February 2026), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-10-04
- Jobs and Skills Australia: Generative AI Capacity Study, interactive table data (September 2025), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-10-04
- Jobs and Skills Australia: Employment Projections (Victoria University) (May 2025 to May 2035), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-10-04
- Australian Taxation Office: Taxation Statistics, Individuals Table 15A (2023-24), CC BY 2.5 AU, retrieved 2026-10-04
Updated 2026-10-04