Physician Careers Pay Well
Physicians (medical doctors, known as MDs) diagnose and treat diseases, injuries and disorders and offer preventative care to patients, as well as supervising other staff including nurses, technicians and physician assistants.
Job Responsibilities
Most physicians work in patient care rather than research or administration.
Physicians can generalize or specialize in internal, cardiology, neurology, sports medicine or other specialties. A good physician will practice excellent communication skills, figuring out their patients’ needs and caring for them with compassion and empathy.
Physicians should complete undergraduate study in science before going on to medical school for their MD. After medical school, physicians open a private practice or become part of a group partnership, or take employment at a university-hospital or work for an HMO (health maintenance organization). In a university-hospital position, physicians do direct practice as well as research and teaching, and in private practice physicians operate as their own boss. HMOs as large corporations provide the physician with patients, handling the administrative and business tasks while doctors can focus on treating the clients. The majority of physicians have their own practice or work in group practice.
Finding a job can take a lot of networking as physicians make use of the contacts they made during their internships and residencies, along with becoming knowledgeable on what practices exist in the area they want to live. Online job banks, such as $100KJobFinder and www.practicelink.com list thousands of jobs according to specialty.
Some of the biggest medical employers are Massachusetts General Hospital and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in New York City. Physicians work an average of 65 hours per week, and men outweigh women in the profession with a rate of 80% men.
Physician Pay Information
$137,100 average annual salary (www.bls.gov/oco). Here’s a little more salary information: