What does an emergency room physician do?
An Emergency Room Physician provides medical treatment to patients requiring acute and life-saving care. They keep them alive so they can receive the proper treatments.
Emergency room physician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real emergency room physician resumes:
- Lead surgeries on: hemorrhoid thrombectomy, abscess drainage, CPR, as well as complicated plastic surgeries due to injury.
- Provide inpatient, outpatient and emergency care in a teaching hospital in different areas of internal medicine and surgery.
- Assist attending physician in all aspects of medical care (diagnosis, delivery and minor surgery).
- Schedule patients for surgeries, instruct them about post-operative care and answer questions regarding recovery and limitations after surgery.
- Operate electrocardiogram (EKG) and other equipment to administer diagnostic test.
- Educate patients about self-management of acute or chronic illnesses, tailoring instructions to patients' individual circumstances.
- Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service
- Case, endotracheal intubation and artificial mechanical ventilation to which it require, bladder catheterizations rectal and nasogastric.
Emergency room physician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 29% of Emergency Room Physicians are proficient in Patients, Emergency Medicine, and Surgery. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Emergency Room Physicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 29%
Scheduled patients for surgeries, instructed them about post-operative care and answered questions regarding recovery and limitations after surgery.
- Emergency Medicine, 23%
Full range of emergency medicine; medical director emergency services; paramedic and EMT instructor/trainer
- Surgery, 5%
Assisted attending physician in all aspects of medical care (diagnosis, delivery and minor surgery).
- Acls, 4%
Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) instructor.
- Patient Care, 4%
Received letter of commendation from Emergency Department director regarding patient care.
- Medical Care, 4%
Covered the entire discipline of medical care and referred cases to appropriate facilities and agencies.
"patients," "emergency medicine," and "surgery" are among the most common skills that emergency room physicians use at work. You can find even more emergency room physician responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for an emergency room 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 emergency room physician resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "maintained excellent inter-department communication to ensure quality patient care. "
Compassion. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling emergency room 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 emergency room physician resume, here's how emergency room physicians can utilize compassion in their job responsibilities: "make rapport with patients and relatives and be compassionate. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for emergency room physicians to perform their duties. For an example of how emergency room 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 emergency room physician: "interpret and ensure accuracy of detailed documentation to facilitate patient care and safety. ".
Dexterity. For certain emergency room physician responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "dexterity." The day-to-day duties of an emergency room physician rely on this skill, as "physicians and surgeons may work with very precise and sometimes sharp tools, and mistakes can have serious consequences." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what emergency room physicians do: "conducted hands-on minor surgical procedures such as homeostasis, debridement, suturing and dressing the wound. "
Leadership skills. Another common skill required for emergency room physician responsibilities is "leadership skills." This skill comes up in the duties of emergency room physicians all the time, as "physicians who work in their own practice must manage a staff of other professionals." An excerpt from a real emergency room physician resume shows how this skill is central to what an emergency room physician does: "observed patient care and learned about common diseases 42 hours shadowed total leadership positions"
Physical stamina. Another skill commonly found on emergency room physician job descriptions is "physical stamina." It can come up quite often in emergency room physician duties, since "physicians and surgeons should be comfortable lifting or turning disabled patients, or performing other physical tasks." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day emergency room physician responsibilities: "managed direct patient care, including physical examinations, evaluations, assessments, diagnoses and treatment. "
The three companies that hire the most emergency room physicians are:
- SoutheastHEALTH
4 emergency room physicians jobs
- HMFPhysicians
3 emergency room physicians jobs
- RWJBarnabas Health3 emergency room physicians jobs
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Compare different emergency room physicians
Emergency room physician vs. Endocrinologist
Endocrinologists specialize in the glands and the hormones our body makes. These doctors deal with the biochemical process, like how your body changes food into energy and how it grows. An endocrinologist can diagnose and treat hormonal problems; diseases like diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, thyroid dysfunction, adrenal disorders, lipid disorders, growth disorders, and metabolic abnormalities. An endocrinologist must exhibit leadership skills, organizational and problem-solving skills, strong communication skills, empathy, and agility. An endocrinologist must have an issued license to practice medicine.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between emergency room physicians and endocrinologist. For instance, emergency room physician responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "emergency medicine," "surgery," and "acls." Whereas a endocrinologist is skilled in "cme," "clinical care," "pediatrics," and "diabetes educators." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Endocrinologists tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $207,857. In contrast, emergency room physicians make the biggest average salary, $106,786, in the health care industry.On average, endocrinologists reach higher levels of education than emergency room physicians. Endocrinologists are 8.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 8.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Emergency room physician vs. Internist
An internist is a physician of internal medicine whose primary duty is to diagnose and treat different illnesses and injuries. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting initial assessment and examination, reviewing medical records and histories, providing consultations, prescribing medicines, and coordinating with different health care workers to ensure optimal care and service to patients. Moreover, it is essential to discuss and explain conditions to patients or their families, monitor their condition, provide health care advice, and refer them to any specialists or support services as needed.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that emergency room physician responsibilities requires skills like "emergency medicine," "surgery," "acls," and "patient care." But an internist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "emr," "critical care," "private practice," and "rehabilitation."
Internists earn a higher average salary than emergency room physicians. But internists earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $198,321. Additionally, emergency room physicians earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $106,786 annually.internists earn similar levels of education than emergency room physicians in general. They're 1.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 8.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for emergency room physicians in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Haydee Encarnacion-Garcia Ph.D.
Associate Professor, MPH Program Director, Indiana Wesleyan University
Emergency room physician vs. General internist
A hospitalist is responsible for providing needed care for the patients in a hospital. They usually lead the medical team in the treatment of in-patients. They monitor patients' health, examine and interpret laboratory test results, run diagnostic tests, and prescribe medical drugs.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from emergency room physician resumes include skills like "patients," "emergency medicine," "surgery," and "acls," whereas a general internist is more likely to list skills in "outpatient practice," "board certification," "pediatrics," and "american board. "
General internists earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $195,296. Comparatively, emergency room physicians have the highest earning potential in the health care industry, with an average salary of $106,786.general internists typically earn lower educational levels compared to emergency room physicians. Specifically, they're 5.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 14.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Emergency room physician vs. Internal medicine hospitalist
Types of emergency room physician
Updated January 8, 2025
