What does an attending physician do?

An Attending Physician typically supervises fellows, residents, medical students, and other practitioners. They are responsible for supervising each patient every day, reviewing treatment plans with residents, and supervising patient management documents.
Attending physician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real attending physician resumes:
- Manage neurological cancer research protocols: collected/organize data, assure compliance with protocol guidelines, manage study database and enroll patients.
- Prepare patients for ultrasound guide injections and aspirations which includes draping patients, prepping medications and preparing sterile instruments.
- Manage neurological cancer research protocols: collected/organize data, assure compliance with protocol guidelines, manage study database and enroll patients.
- Monitor and manage patient medical records in compliance with HIPPA.
Attending physician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 35% of Attending Physicians are proficient in Patients, Primary Care, and Surgery. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Attending Physicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 35%
Prepare patients for ultrasound guided injections and aspirations which includes draping patients, prepping medications and preparing sterile instruments.
- Primary Care, 8%
Delivered primary care/correctional medicine to inmates in the Baltimore City prison facilities and coordinated treatment plans for HIV/AIDS inmates.
- Surgery, 5%
Developed a minor surgery program for skin diseases.
- Internal Medicine, 5%
Job Responsibilities: Practiced internal medicine and pediatrics in hepatology and infectious diseases.
- BLS, 4%
Maintained ACLS and BLS certifications.
- Rehabilitation, 3%
Instructed resident-physicians in the principles and practice of physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Most attending physicians use their skills in "patients," "primary care," and "surgery" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential attending physician responsibilities here:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for an attending physician to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "physicians and surgeons need to be excellent communicators." Additionally, an attending physician resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "learn basic communication skills with patients recognize emergency situations understand medical terminology clinical exposure interpret statistics and results"
Compassion. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling attending physician duties is compassion. The role rewards competence in this skill because "patients who are sick or injured may be in extreme pain or distress." According to an attending physician resume, here's how attending physicians can utilize compassion in their job responsibilities: "provided competent, compassionate patient care and worked effectively as a member of the health care team. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for attending physicians to perform their duties. For an example of how attending physician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "patients must receive appropriate treatment and medications." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an attending physician: "draw blood samples, prepare charts, and take vital signs and detailed patient histories. ".
Dexterity. attending physician responsibilities often require "dexterity." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "physicians and surgeons may work with very precise and sometimes sharp tools, and mistakes can have serious consequences." This resume example shows what attending physicians do with dexterity on a typical day: "scrubbed multiple hospital procedures (facelifts, liposuction, augmentations, facial reconstructive surgery, breast reconstructive surgery. )"
Leadership skills. A commonly-found skill in attending physician job descriptions, "leadership skills" is essential to what attending physicians do. Attending physician responsibilities rely on this skill because "physicians who work in their own practice must manage a staff of other professionals." You can also see how attending physician duties rely on leadership skills in this resume example: "developed leadership training programs on a variety of topics to improve hr practices. "
Physical stamina. Lastly, "physical stamina" is an important element of what an attending physician does. Attending physician responsibilities require this skill because "physicians and surgeons should be comfortable lifting or turning disabled patients, or performing other physical tasks." This resume example highlights how attending physician duties rely on this skill: "analyzed patient history, patient medical/drug assessments performed patient physical examinations. "
The three companies that hire the most attending physicians are:
- Physician Affiliate Group of New York48 attending physicians jobs
- Piedmont Healthcare7 attending physicians jobs
- Mayo Clinic6 attending physicians jobs
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Attending physician vs. Doctor
A doctor is a medical expert who diagnoses and treats illnesses and injuries, often specializing in particular areas. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting initial interviews and examinations, studying a patient's medical history and laboratory results, providing consultations and care advice, prescribing medication, and referring patients to specialists when necessary. They must also coordinate and maintain an active communication line with nurses, administrators, and technicians for a smooth workflow. Moreover, a doctor must educate patients about their health conditions, helping them understand their situation better.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between attending physicians and doctor. For instance, attending physician responsibilities require skills such as "bls," "rehabilitation," "direct patient care," and "epic." Whereas a doctor is skilled in "customer service," "dr," "strong work ethic," and "cleanliness." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Doctors tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $178,767. In contrast, attending physicians make the biggest average salary, $168,816, in the health care industry.The education levels that doctors earn slightly differ from attending physicians. In particular, doctors are 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an attending physician. Additionally, they're 10.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Attending physician vs. Family practice doctor
Family practice doctors provide lifelong care for a patient and their family. They offer medical attention to all family members, educates patients on disease prevention, provide health maintenance, and ensure mental and emotional needs are met. They manage basic complaints, like colds or flus, and also treat chronic illnesses, like asthma, diabetes, or degenerative conditions. They provide ongoing personalized care. Doctors must be empathetic, professional, and knowledgeable.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that attending physician responsibilities requires skills like "primary care," "bls," "rehabilitation," and "emergency room." But a family practice doctor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "family medicine," "urgent care," "patient care," and "outpatient clinic."
Family practice doctors earn similar levels of education than attending physicians in general. They're 4.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 10.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Attending physician vs. Professor of family medicine
A professor of family medicine is a medical expert who facilitates discussions and lectures for future medical practitioners. Their responsibilities revolve around developing teaching strategies, creating lesson and assessment plans, organizing activities and projects, preparing coursework, and monitoring the progress of students. They may also participate in studies, utilizing their expertise for discoveries. Furthermore, as a professor of family medicine, it is essential to lead and encourage students to reach their potentials, all while maintaining a safe and productive learning environment for everyone.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, attending physicians are more likely to have skills like "bls," "rehabilitation," "emergency room," and "direct patient care." But a professor of family medicine is more likely to have skills like "family practice," "urgent care," "patient care," and "cme."
Professors of family medicine earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $183,433. Attending physicians earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $168,816.professors of family medicine typically earn higher educational levels compared to attending physicians. Specifically, they're 12.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 3.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Attending physician vs. Family practice md
A family practice MD is responsible for monitoring and diagnosing patients' conditions of all ages. Family practice MDs identify the patients' medical histories and administer treatment plans and medications. They also coordinate with other medical professionals for further laboratory examinations. A family practice MD must have excellent communication and extensive knowledge of the medical industry to identify the best treatment methods for the patients. Family practice MDs keep an organized record of medical charts for reference and reports.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between attending physicians and family practice mds, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an attending physician might have more use for skills like "surgery," "bls," "rehabilitation," and "emergency room." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of family practice mds require skills like "family practice," "emr," "patient care," and "nursing home. "
The professional industry tends to pay the highest salaries for family practice mds, with average annual pay of $207,373. Comparatively, the highest attending physician annual salary comes from the health care industry.family practice mds reach similar levels of education compared to attending physicians, in general. The difference is that they're 3.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 7.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of attending physician
Updated January 8, 2025











