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Acute Care Physician Education Requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become an acute care physician. Acute care physicians usually study medicine, nursing, or biology. 34% of acute care physicians hold a bachelor's degree, and 27% hold an doctoral degree. We analyzed 936 real acute care physician resumes to see exactly what acute care physician education sections show.

The most common colleges for acute care physicians are the University of Washington and the University of Washington.

There are also many online acute care physician courses to help get the education required to be an acute care physician.

There are certain acute care physician certifications that you should consider. These acute care physician certifications include Family Medicine and Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA).

What education do you need to become an acute care physician?

What degree do you need to be an acute care physician?

The most common degree for acute care physicians is bachelor's degree, with 34% of acute care physicians earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are doctoral degree degree at 27% and doctoral degree degree at 12%.
  • Bachelor's, 34%
  • Doctorate, 27%
  • Master's, 12%
  • Associate, 8%
  • Other Degrees, 19%

What should I major in to become an acute care physician?

You should major in medicine to become an acute care physician. 26% of acute care physicians major in medicine. Other common majors for an acute care physician include nursing and biology.

Most common colleges for acute care physicians

Acute care physicians often get their degrees at University of Washington, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Wright State University. Here are the most common colleges for acute care physicians in the US based on their resumes.
Acute Care Physician Common CollegePercentages
University of Washington6.74%
University of Illinois at Chicago5.62%
Wright State University5.62%
New York University5.62%
Ohio State University5.62%

Best majors for acute care physicians

RankMajorPercentages
1Medicine26.5%
2Nursing11.8%
3Biology9.8%
4Occupational Therapy8.6%
5Physical Therapy5.6%

Best colleges for acute care physicians

The best colleges for acute care physicians are Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University in the City of New York.

An acute care physician with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for acute care physicians. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become acute care physicians.

1. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

3. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

4. University of California, Irvine

Irvine, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,700

Enrollment

29,722

5. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,522

Enrollment

13,760

6. University of Wisconsin - Madison

Madison, WI • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,555

Enrollment

30,360

7. University of California - Davis

Davis, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,402

Enrollment

30,698

8. University of Washington

Seattle, WA • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,207

Enrollment

30,905

9. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,625

Enrollment

17,407

10. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

20 best online courses for acute care physicians

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1. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care

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This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...

2. Trauma Emergencies and Care

coursera

Welcome to Trauma Emergencies and Care. In this course, you will learn about some of the mechanics and physics of trauma on the human body, and how this can cause injury. You will continue to expand your new vocabulary with medical terminology, and learn how to describe the different injuries you may see. You will also learn about the trauma system itself- and when it is important to transport patients to a trauma center. Then we will dive into specific injuries based on what part of the body...

3. Providing Trauma-Informed Care

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4.7
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Exploring psychological trauma and how to provide care and compassion to trauma survivors...

4. The Key to Happiness: Self Care

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4.6
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Discover Self Care as a tool for creating positive change in your mental health, behaviours, and well-being...

5. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale

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Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...

6. Health for All Through Primary Health Care

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This course explores why primary health care is central for achieving Health for All. It provides examples of how primary health care has been instrumental in approaching this goal in selected populations and how the principles of primary health care can guide future policies and actions. Two of the most inspiring, least understood, and most often derided terms in global health discourse are “Health for All” and “Primary Health Care.” In this course, we will explore these terms in the context...

7. Coping Skills and Self-Care for Mental Health

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Essential skills to manage intense emotions and develop a self-care practice to promote mental health...

8. Self-Care Life Coach Certification (Boundary Setting)

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Empower Your Life Coach Your Clients to Develop Self-Care, Self-Love, Boundary Setting and How to Say No...

9. Emergency Care: Pregnancy, Infants, and Children

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Welcome to the final course of lectures in your quest to master EMT basics. In this course, we will cover some of the highest-stress patient populations: pregnant patients and kids, also known as pediatrics. To wrap up your EMT knowledge we will end this course with information about hazmat situations, extricating patients from tight spots and finally how you write a note about your patient care. You will learn to ensure it communicates what your assessment of the patient was, what...

10. Palliative Care Always Capstone Course

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The Palliative Care Always Capstone course is designed to let you test your knowledge about palliative and help others understand the value of palliative care, while showing your creative side. In this course, you will impact community awareness about palliative care, promote self-care and wellness, show-off your communication skills in a virtual environment, and finish the course off by proving your thoughts on ways to offer psychosocial support to a patient and family...

11. Pain Management: Easing Pain in Palliative Care

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In this course, you will be able to develop a systems view for assessing and managing pain in the palliative care setting. By the end of the course, you will be able to: 1) Describe the pain problem in the palliative care setting; 2) Assess a person’s pain, 3) Explain the benefits of integrative therapies and pharmacologic strategies to manage pain...

12. Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative

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Please join us for an exciting and innovative journey, examining one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of the oncology setting: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Supportive Cancer Care. This course is presented with short lectures offering a wide range of issues related to the principles and practice of herbal medicine in cancer care. The course includes interviews with leading world experts from the field of Integrative Oncology, from the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe, the...

13. Thinking About Care

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Although all humans require care to develop and thrive, it is rarely the focus of academic studies. This course enriches learner’s understanding of this critical yet underappreciated facet of their lives by addressing such questions as: What is care? Who has traditionally provided it? How valued is care work? Does money take the care out of care work? In addition to advancing learner’s knowledge of the place of care in modern society and controversies surrounding it, Thinking About Care will...

14. Value-Based Care: Managing Processes to Improve Outcomes

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COURSE 3 of 7. This course is designed to introduce you to critical office-based processes that a value-based practice must manage in the drive towards improved patient outcomes. In Module 2, we’ll focus on office-based and clinical patient-based supporting functions. At every level in healthcare, guidelines, processes, and functions exist to improve outcomes, and following a consistent process will return the best effect. Refine your understanding of value and learn strategies to provide real...

15. Health Care Delivery in Healthcare Organizations

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Have you ever needed health care and thought that there must be better ways to get or deliver health care? For example, have you found yourself thinking that there should be a way to get a diagnostic test or treatment at home? Or do you work in a healthcare organization and find yourself thinking that there must be better ways to deliver health care? If you have, this course is for you. Course content includes an overview of health care delivery including healthcare consumerism, the patient's...

16. Health Care IT: Challenges and Opportunities

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A strong argument can be made that the health care field is one of the most information-intensive sectors in the U.S. economy and avoidance of the rapid advances in information technology is no longer an option. Consequently, the study of health care information technology and systems has become central to health care delivery effectiveness. This course covers the modern application of information technology that is critical to supporting the vision and operational knowledge of the health care...

17. COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers

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COVID-19 is rapidly spreading across the globe and all providers must be prepared to recognize, stabilize and treat patients with novel coronavirus infection. Following completion of this short course physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals will have a unified, evidenced-based approach to saving the lives of patients with COVID-19, including those who are critically ill. Learning modules are broken into short videos presented in a richly illustrated and compelling manner. The...

18. Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers

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This course is designed with a singular goal: to improve the care you provide to your patients with substance use disorders. By delving into a model case performed by actors, seven Yale instructors from various fields provide techniques to screen your patients for substance use disorder risk, diagnose patients to gauge the severity of their use, directly manage treatment plans, refer out to treatment services, and navigate the various conditions that may limit your patient’s access to treatment...

19. Medical Emergencies: Airway, Breathing, and Circulation

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In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: 1) assess a basic medical patient 2) describe general pharmacologic principles and the skills associated with medication administration, 3) explain airway physiology, the assessment of the airway and available interventions for airway management, 4) identify, assess and formulate a plan to stabilize a patient with a...

20. Medical Emergencies: CPR, Toxicology, and Wilderness

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In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: (1) Identify the signs and symptoms associated with a patient in shock, to describe the major categories of shock, to assess a patient with signs of shock and formulate a plan for treatment to stabilize the patient for transport, (2) Identify a patient in cardiac arrest and to describe the components of high performance CPR...

Top 10 most affordable universities for acute care physicians

The most affordable schools for acute care physicians are University of Florida, suny farmingdale, and university of south florida.

If the best universities for acute care physicians are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for acute care physicians.

1. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,381

Cost of Attendance

21,034

2. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,306

Cost of Attendance

16,091

3. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,410

Cost of Attendance

20,456

4. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,556

Cost of Attendance

19,434

5. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$5,656

Cost of Attendance

21,623

6. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Cost of Attendance

25,527

7. York College of the City University of New York

Jamaica, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,158

Cost of Attendance

14,204

8. Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$4,831

Cost of Attendance

19,559

9. University of Missouri - Kansas City

Kansas City, MO • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,178

Cost of Attendance

20,934

10. University of Central Florida

Orlando, FL • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,368

Cost of Attendance

21,034

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for acute care physicians

The hardest universities for acute care physicians to get into are Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University in the City of New York.

Some great schools for acute care physicians are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for acute care physicians based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

Admissions Rate

9%

SAT Average

1,516

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions Rate

8%

SAT Average

1,492

3. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions Rate

6%

SAT Average

1,512

4. Yale University

New Haven, CT • Private

Admissions Rate

6%

SAT Average

1,517

5. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions Rate

11%

SAT Average

1,513

6. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions Rate

10%

SAT Average

1,514

7. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions Rate

15%

SAT Average

1,456

8. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions Rate

19%

SAT Average

1,466

9. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions Rate

13%

SAT Average

1,445

10. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

Admissions Rate

23%

SAT Average

1,434

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for acute care physicians

The easiest schools for acute care physicians to get into are D'Youville College, adventhealth university, and university of the incarnate word.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as an acute care physician without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for acute care physicians.

1. D'Youville College

Buffalo, NY • Private

Admissions Rate

100%

SAT Average

1,072

2. AdventHealth University

Orlando, FL • Private

Admissions Rate

87%

SAT Average

1,016

3. University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions Rate

88%

SAT Average

1,044

4. Nyack College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions Rate

98%

SAT Average

999

5. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions Rate

92%

SAT Average

1,031

6. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions Rate

68%

SAT Average

964

7. Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions Rate

84%

SAT Average

1,031

8. La Roche College

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

Admissions Rate

99%

SAT Average

1,008

9. Saint Joseph's College of Maine

Standish, ME • Private

Admissions Rate

84%

SAT Average

1,069

10. Notre Dame of Maryland University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions Rate

88%

SAT Average

1,069

Average acute care physician salary by education level

Acute Care Physician education levelAcute Care Physician salary
Doctorate Degree$225,336

Acute Care Physician Education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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