What is a hospitalist physician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Janet Williams Ph.D.

A hospitalist physician specializes in caring for patients in a hospital setting. They manage the medical care of patients in the hospital, including diagnosing and treating illnesses, ordering and interpreting diagnostic tests, prescribing medications, coordinating with other professionals, and providing education. Hospitalists work with primary care physicians and specialists to ensure comprehensive and coordinated care. They typically work long and irregular hours, often working in shifts to provide around-the-clock care to their patients.

What general advice would you give to a Hospitalist Physician?

Janet Williams Ph.D.

Professor of Biology, College of Our Lady of the Elms

Students who wish to continue their education in healthcare (MD, DO, DMD, DVM, PA, PT, OT, and many other areas), should ensure that they have plenty of experience in healthcare by becoming certified as an EMT or CNA, and spend at least 1-2 years working or volunteering in that capacity. Students should graduate with strong GPAs, over 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, and should have taken all of their prerequisite courses. Students should be prepared to take standardized admissions exams, and plan to do well in them.

ScoreHospitalist PhysicianUS Average

Salary

10.0

Avg. Salary $246,629

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

10.0

Growth Rate 7%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 19.14%

Black or African American 5.16%

Hispanic or Latino 9.54%

Unknown 4.46%

White 61.54%

Gender

female 46.15%

male 53.85%

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

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.1

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a Hospitalist Physician?

Pros

Stable salary and benefits
No outpatient responsibilities
Minimal administrative tasks
Ability to work flexible schedules
High level of job satisfaction

Cons

Lack of control over patient volume
Limited opportunities for career advancement beyond hospitalist role
Interpersonal conflicts with other physicians or hospital staff
Risk of exposure to infectious diseases
Risk of medical errors due to workload and time constraints

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Key steps to become a hospitalist physician

Explore hospitalist physician education requirements

Most common hospitalist physician degrees

Doctorate

30.5 %

Bachelor's

27.3 %

Certificate

21.1 %

Start to develop specific hospitalist physician skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	37.16%
Internal Medicine	17.45%
EMR	16.57%
Acls	4.30%
Surgery	3.83%

Complete relevant hospitalist physician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New hospitalist 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 a hospitalist physician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real hospitalist physician resumes.

Research hospitalist physician duties and responsibilities

Conduct vendor assessments with variety of EMR vendors to assure adherence with CMS standards.
Maintain CRM database of referring physicians, including their demographics, referral patterns and other relevant information.
Participate in a pilot program that utilize physician assistants to assist physicians with covering unassign patients on the hospital wards.
Perform EKG, monitoring & interpretation of EKG.

Prepare your hospitalist physician resume

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

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