How To Become An Emergency Medicine Physician: What It Is and Career Path

What is an emergency medicine physician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

John Colclough

Emergency medicine physicians often treat patients who have life-threatening conditions. Their primary functions include resuscitating and stabilizing patients and transitioning care to an appropriate endpoint, whether in the ICU, general inpatient bed, another provider, another hospital, or even at home.

Emergency medicine physicians usually work in hospital emergency rooms or urgent care centers. With the help of emergency room support staff, emergency medicine physicians triage patients and treat or stabilize them so that they can be discharged or admitted to the hospital for more extensive treatment and testing.

They must have a medical degree and complete a residency, typically a three-year term, and obtain proper licensing and credentials. Essential skills for this position include communication, flexibility, quick thinking, and attentiveness, among others. There is more to the profession than meets the eye.

The average hourly salary of an emergency medicine physician is $92.65 an hour. That amounts to over $192,000 annually. The career is expected to grow 7% in the coming years and create various job opportunities across the United States.

What general advice would you give to an emergency medicine physician?

John Colclough

Professor, Marshall University

Be patient and stay informed. Many performers think their career is about the work in the rehearsal hall or in performance-not so, the real work is in the management of your business. Being an authority of WHO, WHAT and WHERE is key. WHO are the players in your market? The directors, actors, casting people, producing organizations, etc...these are who you need to know-your network. WHAT opportunities exist in your market? The theatres, video companies, universities (if you have an MFA you may be able to teach a class or two), Improvisation groups, any opportunity that allows you to grow your brand is worth your attention. And finally, WHERE are the opportunities-knowing your community and having a sense of how each company fits into the fabric of the community. Having a sense of where the company resides both geographically and virtually (web sites) and having a solid knowledge base of details of each company can inform your marketing tactics as well as provide you with specific details unique to each organization. Careers develop over time and keeping expectations realistic over the first year can be challenging. Be practical and methodical in your approach: save money (there's never enough), find a place to live (the best you can afford), find a side hustle (you're going to need money and routine), find out the lay of the land (WHO, WHAT, and WHERE), develop your skill set (take a class and meet colleagues), go to productions, screenings, workshops, document your growth (keep a journal or calendar to track your progress), celebrate your successes and be patient with your stumbles-Hard knocks are the best teachers!

ScoreEmergency Medicine PhysicianUS Average

Salary

9.2

Avg. Salary $162,369

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.9

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 19.05%

Black or African American 5.24%

Hispanic or Latino 9.75%

Unknown 4.48%

White 61.30%

Gender

female 39.72%

male 60.28%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

8.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.4

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an emergency medicine physician

Explore emergency medicine physician education requirements

Most common emergency medicine physician degrees

Doctorate

41.2 %

Bachelor's

32.2 %

Master's

11.0 %

Start to develop specific emergency medicine physician skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	26.52%
Medical Care	16.45%
Critical Care	16.35%
IM	9.12%
Family Practice	8.57%

Complete relevant emergency medicine physician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New emergency medicine physicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an emergency medicine physician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real emergency medicine physician resumes.

Research emergency medicine physician duties and responsibilities

Lead surgeries on: hemorrhoid thrombectomy, abscess drainage, CPR, as well as complicated plastic surgeries due to injury.
Start IVs, draw blood, perform EKGs, administer joint and IM injections, and write admission orders.
Interpret labs, x-rays, CTs, MRIs, and ECGs.
Assist with management of acute cardiac arrest, including intubation and ACLS protocol.

Prepare your emergency medicine physician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your emergency medicine physician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an emergency medicine physician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable emergency medicine physician resume templates

Build a professional emergency medicine physician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your emergency medicine physician resume.

Apply for emergency medicine physician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an emergency medicine physician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average emergency medicine physician salary

The average emergency medicine physician salary in the United States is $162,369 per year or $78 per hour. Emergency medicine physician salaries range between $77,000 and $340,000 per year.

Average emergency medicine physician salary

$162,369 Yearly

$78.06 hourly

What is an emergency medicine physician and how to become one

What general advice would you give to an emergency medicine physician?

Emergency medicine physician career paths

Key steps to become an emergency medicine physician

Explore emergency medicine physician education requirements

Most common emergency medicine physician degrees

Start to develop specific emergency medicine physician skills

Complete relevant emergency medicine physician training and internships

Research emergency medicine physician duties and responsibilities

Prepare your emergency medicine physician resume

Choose from 10+ customizable emergency medicine physician resume templates

Apply for emergency medicine physician jobs

How did you land your first emergency medicine physician job

Average emergency medicine physician salary

How do emergency medicine physicians rate their job?