What does a physical medicine physician do?
Physical medicine physicians are paid salaries between $144K and $216K per year. They must have a bachelor's and M.D. This career requires strong skills in reading, critical thinking and medicine. Those who make the choice to pursue this particular career will be called up on to treat a wide variety of medical conditions that affect the brain, spinal cord, nerves, bones, joints, ligaments, muscles, and tendons.
Physical medicine physician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real physical medicine physician resumes:
- Manage multidisciplinary teams and achieve excellent patient outcomes in inpatient rehabilitation settings.
- Assist with managing chronic illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, and CHF.
- Provide physician input for the development of rehabilitation order care sets for Cerner's EMR software.
- Maintain current HIPPA, OSHA and other govern files.
- Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service
- Assist with managing chronic illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, and CHF.
Physical medicine physician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 42% of Physical Medicine Physicians are proficient in Rehabilitation, Physical Medicine, and Physical Therapy. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Physical Medicine Physicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Rehabilitation, 42%
Expanded presence of Lutheran Acute Rehabilitation and Augustana Subacute Rehabilitation in New York City market.
- Physical Medicine, 27%
Head of Physical medicine Department with all the responsibilities of Physical medicine and Rehab Physician.
- Physical Therapy, 10%
Transported patients to physical therapy and physician appointments.
- Family Practice, 7%
Supervised family practice residents in outpatient clinic and obstetrical and family practice inpatient services.
- Internal Medicine, 5%
Teach Internal Medicine to residents and medical students* Perform physicals for various executives in the community through Executive Health Services
- Private Practice, 4%
Solo Private Practice; General Obstetrics-Gynecology; inpatient and outpatient services
Common skills that a physical medicine physician uses to do their job include "rehabilitation," "physical medicine," and "physical therapy." You can find details on the most important physical medicine physician responsibilities below.
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a physical medicine 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, a physical medicine physician resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "collaborate with the oncology and radiation team in getting patients their initial visit as well as ongoing communication regarding treatment. "
Compassion. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling physical medicine 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 a physical medicine physician resume, here's how physical medicine 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. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of physical medicine physicians is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday physical medicine physician duties, as "patients must receive appropriate treatment and medications." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "interpret and ensure accuracy of detailed documentation to facilitate patient care and safety. "
Dexterity. A big part of what physical medicine physicians do relies on "dexterity." You can see how essential it is to physical medicine physician responsibilities because "physicians and surgeons may work with very precise and sometimes sharp tools, and mistakes can have serious consequences." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical physical medicine physician tasks: "conducted hands-on minor surgical procedures such as homeostasis, debridement, suturing and dressing the wound. "
Leadership skills. Another common skill required for physical medicine physician responsibilities is "leadership skills." This skill comes up in the duties of physical medicine physicians all the time, as "physicians who work in their own practice must manage a staff of other professionals." An excerpt from a real physical medicine physician resume shows how this skill is central to what a physical medicine physician does: "observed patient care and learned about common diseases 42 hours shadowed total leadership positions"
Physical stamina. Lastly, "physical stamina" is an important element of what a physical medicine physician does. Physical medicine 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 physical medicine physician duties rely on this skill: "perform physical assessments within prescribed guidelines and instruction of physician. "
The three companies that hire the most physical medicine physicians are:
- All Medical Personnel16 physical medicine physicians jobs
- Kelsey-Seybold Clinic7 physical medicine physicians jobs
- Northwestern Medicine5 physical medicine physicians jobs
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Compare different physical medicine physicians
Physical medicine physician vs. Attending physiatrist, residency program director
Physiatrists must have a bachelor's degree in physical sciences or a related field, a M.D. or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, and 4 to 7 years' internship and residency training specializing in rehab and physical medicine. This position pays annual salaries of around $58K to $370K. It requires skills in empathy, compassion, emotional resilience, monitoring, and strong initiative to work in challenging environments. Physiatrists diagnose illnesses, design plans for treatment, and prescribe various medicines.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a physical medicine physician are more likely to require skills like "rehabilitation," "physical medicine," "physical therapy," and "pmr." On the other hand, a job as an attending physiatrist, residency program director requires skills like "community resources," "contract labor," "educational programs," and "social work." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Attending physiatrist, residency program directors tend to reach higher levels of education than physical medicine physicians. In fact, attending physiatrist, residency program directors are 16.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 28.2% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Physical medicine physician vs. Medical director acute rehabilitation unit physiatrist
Physicians' general responsibility is to check, diagnose, and treat a patient's condition to improve their overall wellness. A physician could be General Practitioners or Specialist Physicians, wherein General Practitioners are physicians who provide regular checkups for patients depending on their needs and refer them to a Specialist Physicians who are more skilled in a particular field of expertise for a thorough diagnosis. Physicians monitor a patient's medical history and ensure follow-up checkups to observe if the condition of a patient is changing over time. A physician may refer a patient to other health professionals for further examination as needed.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, physical medicine physician responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "rehabilitation," "physical medicine," "physical therapy," and "pmr." Meanwhile, a medical director acute rehabilitation unit physiatrist has duties that require skills in areas such as "surg," "acls," "cno," and "fte." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Medical directors acute rehabilitation unit physiatrist earn lower levels of education than physical medicine physicians in general. They're 9.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 28.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for physical medicine physicians in the next 3-5 years?
Anna Rose Robertson Ph.D.
Instructor of Exercise Science, Welch College
Physical medicine physician vs. Physiatrist
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, physical medicine physicians are more likely to have skills like "pmr," "family practice," "internal medicine," and "private practice." But a physiatrist is more likely to have skills like "patients," "physical medicine rehabilitation," "carf," and "multidisciplinary."
Physiatrists make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $218,711. On the other hand, physical medicine physicians are paid the highest salary in the health care industry, with average annual pay of $182,888.When it comes to education, physiatrists tend to earn similar degree levels compared to physical medicine physicians. In fact, they're 1.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 11.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Physical medicine physician vs. Physician
Even though a few skill sets overlap between physical medicine physicians and physicians, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a physical medicine physician might have more use for skills like "physical medicine," "physical therapy," "pmr," and "pain management." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of physicians require skills like "patients," "surgery," "primary care," and "emr. "
Physicians enjoy the best pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $169,042. For comparison, physical medicine physicians earn the highest salary in the health care industry.The average resume of physicians showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to physical medicine physicians. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 10.5%.Types of physical medicine physician
Updated January 8, 2025
