How To Become An Internal Medicine Hospitalist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an internal medicine hospitalist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Internal medicine hospitalists are responsible for providing advanced primary care and specialty physician services at hospitals. They perform patient health assessment, create strategies to improve or manage a patient's health, and introduce habits that promote health into a patient's life. They also recommend and make comprehensive treatment plans for hospitalized patients while working with the patient's primary physician to create recovery plans for patients after leaving the hospital.

Internal medicine hospitalists earn an average salary of $160,000 annually or $77 per hour. These hospitalists are licensed physicians who practice in a hospital and treat a wide array of conditions. Their duties include providing diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic health services to patients and family members in the hospital and evaluating and treating patients in consultation with or as the primary attending physician.

Internal medicine hospitalists must first become a medical doctor, which takes about 11 years in school after graduating from high school. They are expected to be licensed to practice medicine in the state in which they want to work after completing their medical education. Some employers prefer candidates with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

ScoreInternal Medicine HospitalistUS Average

Salary

10.0

Avg. Salary $207,079

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 19.51%

Black or African American 5.28%

Hispanic or Latino 9.83%

Unknown 4.49%

White 60.73%

Gender

female 58.78%

male 41.22%

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 internal medicine hospitalist

Explore internal medicine hospitalist education requirements

Most common internal medicine hospitalist degrees

Bachelor's

36.9 %

Master's

20.7 %

Certificate

17.1 %

Start to develop specific internal medicine hospitalist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	33.18%
Internal Medicine	28.61%
EMR	9.28%
Patient Care	6.85%
ICU	5.04%

Complete relevant internal medicine hospitalist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New internal medicine hospitalists 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 internal medicine hospitalist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real internal medicine hospitalist resumes.

Research internal medicine hospitalist duties and responsibilities

Train and manage new interns/ volunteers assisting with the evidence-based hypertension management program.
Implement and initiate interventions in collaboration with physician team and anticipate potential outcomes for patients at risk of complications.
Assist Dr. Sacks with medical correspondence.
Monitor and manage patient medical records in compliance with HIPPA.

Prepare your internal medicine hospitalist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your internal medicine hospitalist 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 internal medicine hospitalist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Internal Medicine Hospitalist Resume templates

Build a professional Internal Medicine Hospitalist 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 Internal Medicine Hospitalist resume.

Apply for internal medicine hospitalist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an internal medicine hospitalist 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 internal medicine hospitalist salary

The average Internal Medicine Hospitalist salary in the United States is $207,079 per year or $100 per hour. Internal medicine hospitalist salaries range between $99,000 and $430,000 per year.

Average Internal Medicine Hospitalist Salary

$207,079 Yearly

$99.56 hourly