Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners

How to become an Emergency Medicine Physician

Official title: Emergency Medicine Physicians

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

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.

Main tasks

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.

How to become one

Physicians and surgeons typically need a bachelor's degree as well as a medical degree, which takes an additional 4 years to complete. Depending on their specialty, they also need 3 to 9 years in internship and residency programs. Subspecialization includes additional training in a fellowship of 1 to 3 years.

Typical education to start: Doctoral or professional degree

Read the full guide from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Ways in

College: Medicine & Dentistry degrees, Offered by 23 universities in the US
Licence: A licence is required in 49 states.

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

Median pay: $335,550 a year The middle half earn $184,830 to $418,890.
About 34,900 people work in this job now, and about 36,100 are projected by 2035. (+3.2%)
People use generative AI for relatively little of this work so far. Microsoft Research rates its AI applicability as low.

Questions people ask

How do I become an Emergency Medicine Physician?

How much does an Emergency Medicine Physician earn in the US?

Median full-time pay is $335,550 a year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). The middle half earn $184,830 to $418,890.

Is an Emergency Medicine Physician a growing career in the US?

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 3% by 2035, from about 34,900 to about 36,100 people (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Do you need a degree to become an Emergency Medicine Physician?

Usually. 100% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of an Emergency Medicine Physician?

People use generative AI for relatively little of this work so far. Microsoft Research rates its AI applicability as low.

Sources

Microsoft Research: Working with AI: AI applicability by occupation (2025-12-22 (built on O*NET 29.0)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employment Projections (2025-35 (released 2026-08-27)), Public domain (BLS), retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook (2025-35 edition (published 2026-08-27)), Public domain (BLS); photographs excluded, retrieved 2026-10-03
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), Public domain (BLS), retrieved 2026-10-03

Updated 2026-10-03

This page includes information from the 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. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.