Physician Specialist Education Requirements And Courses

Physician specialist education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Usually, physician specialists don't need a college education. The most common degree for physician specialists is bachelor's degree with 42% graduates, with only 18% physician specialist graduates earning associate degree. Physician specialists who decided to graduate from college often finish Texas State University or University of Phoenix. Some good skills to have in this position include patients, patient care and surgery.

Popular physician specialist certifications include Medical Assistant, Certified Professional Coder (CPC), or Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM). To improve physician specialist qualification and skills, we prepared some online courses to help in physician specialist education paths.

What education do you need to become a physician specialist?

What degree do you need to be a physician specialist?

The most common degree for physician specialists is bachelor's degree, with 42% of physician specialists earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 18% and associate degree degree at 13%.

Bachelor's, 42%

Associate, 18%

Master's, 13%

High School Diploma, 8%

Other Degrees, 19%

What should I major in to become a physician specialist?

You should major in business to become a physician specialist. 23% of physician specialists major in business. Other common majors for a physician specialist include health care administration and medicine.

Business, 23%

Health Care Administration, 12%

Medicine, 9%

Nursing, 6%

Other Majors, 50%

Best majors for physician specialists

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Business	23.0%
2	Health Care Administration	12.3%
3	Medicine	8.5%
4	Nursing	6.4%
5	Management	5.5%

Show more common physician specialist majors

20 best online courses for physician specialists

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1. COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers

COVID-19 is rapidly spreading across the globe and all providers must be prepared to recognize, stabilize and treat patients with novel coronavirus infection. Following completion of this short course physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals will have a unified, evidenced-based approach to saving the lives of patients with COVID-19, including those who are critically ill. Learning modules are broken into short videos presented in a richly illustrated and compelling manner. The...

2. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care

This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...

3. Data Science for Healthcare Claims Data

4.4

(489)

Learn and practice how to transform raw healthcare claims data into valuable knowledge and actionable insights!...

4. Introduction to Longevity Medicine

4.4

(344)

A Medical Guide to Longevity Medicine for Physicians...

5. Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff

Now that you've been introduced to the world of Health IT and the important role played by electronic health records (EHRs), we'll focus on other technologies that play a role in maintaining ongoing operations in healthcare. Telemedicine, patient portals, barcode scanners, printers, and medical devices are just some of the technologies that impact providers and patients. As an IT support specialist, you’ll be asked to troubleshoot issues with a wide variety of tools. You'll see a scenario with...

6. ICD 10 & 11 Medical Coding and Billing

4.4

(767)

Preparation for Medical Coding Certification Exam...

7. Medical Coding: ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code Training

4.5

(645)

Learn medical coding and prepare yourself for today's healthcare workplace...

8. Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist

4.4

(811)

Health Information Technology HIT...

9. Customer Service Mastery: Delight Every Customer

4.7

(18,204)

Master Customer Service using this practical customer care course...

10. Customer Service & Support For Customer Service Executives

4.5

(941)

Learn Customer Service Skills & Provide Excellent Customer Support, Customer Experience & How To Manage Upset Customers...

11. Medical Terminology 101

4.4

(752)

For those in healthcare, billing, and more. Boost earning ability and marketable skills by learning to speak medicine...

12. Customer Service

4.6

(11,267)

How to Approach New Customers and Maintain Existing Ones...

13. Outstanding Customer Service - The Ultimate Guide!

4.5

(292)

Unlocking the Powerful Secrets of OUTSTANDING Customer Service - Transform Your Business!...

14. Your Customer Service Toolbox: Best Practices for Beginners

4.5

(4,101)

Excel as a front-line customer service agent using problem-solving & relationship-building skills, etiquette, and more...

15. Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine Advanced Diploma

4.3

(1,105)

A complete program in one course, This Diploma is an Encyclopedia in The Natural Medicine field...

16. [2023] Customer Service 2.0: Learn Digital Customer Service

4.5

(3,956)

Used by Chase®, Intel®, & more! Learn soft skills, social media customer service, diagnosing user problems, & more...

17. Internal audit on Medical Device QMS - ISO 13485:2016

4.3

(578)

Successfully conduct an internal audit based on requirements of ISO 13485:2016 for Medical Device Development and QMS...

18. Customer Service Basics: Improve your Service now

4.5

(889)

The basic golden rules to kickstart your service...

19. SAP Customer Service (CS/SM) - Service Management module

4.4

(960)

Real World SAP CS and SD, Repair Orders, Service Orders, Service Contracts...

20. The Customer: Build a Customer Service Strategy (BITE SIZE)

4.5

(10,168)

For you and your team to be successful in providing great customer service, start by putting your customer first...

Average physician specialist salary by education level

Physician specialists with a Bachelor's degree earn more than those without, at $253,335 annually. With a Associate degree, physician specialists earn a median annual income of $228,140 compared to $211,100 for physician specialists with an High School Diploma degree.

Physician specialist education level	Physician specialist salary
High School Diploma or Less	$211,100
Bachelor's Degree	$253,335
Some College/ Associate Degree	$228,140