Resident physician vs emergency medicine specialist

The differences between resident physicians and emergency medicine specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an emergency medicine specialist has an average salary of $171,707, which is higher than the $164,598 average annual salary of a resident physician.

The top three skills for a resident physician include patients, family medicine and medical education. The most important skills for an emergency medicine specialist are emergency medicine, patients, and critical care.

Resident physician vs emergency medicine specialist overview

	Resident Physician	Emergency Medicine Specialist
Yearly salary	$164,598	$171,707
Hourly rate	$79.13	$82.55
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	43,775	40,096
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	-	-

What does a resident physician do?

A Resident Physician participates in a program of graduate medical education and training in a specialized area of medicine. They work with other members of the healthcare team to provide direct medical care to patients.

What does an emergency medicine specialist do?

Emergency medicine specialists are healthcare professionals who are responsible for treating patients with immediate care in emergency rooms or trauma centers. These specialists are required to possess skills in advanced cardiac life support, trauma care, and management of other life-threatening conditions. They must lead a team of other medical professionals during situations that are intense and stressful while making a split second lifesaving diagnosis on their patients. Emergency medicine specialists must also maintain accurate medical records to understand the medical history of their patients.

Resident physician vs emergency medicine specialist salary

Resident physicians and emergency medicine specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Resident Physician	Emergency Medicine Specialist
Average salary	$164,598	$171,707
Salary range	Between $78,000 And $344,000	Between $85,000 And $345,000
Highest paying City	Worcester, MA	Bangor, ME
Highest paying state	Alaska	Maine
Best paying company	Baptist Health Care	PeaceHealth
Best paying industry	Health Care	Professional

Differences between resident physician and emergency medicine specialist education

There are a few differences between a resident physician and an emergency medicine specialist in terms of educational background:

	Resident Physician	Emergency Medicine Specialist
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common major	Medicine	Physician Assistant
Most common college	Duke University	University of Florida

Resident physician vs emergency medicine specialist demographics

Here are the differences between resident physicians' and emergency medicine specialists' demographics:

	Resident Physician	Emergency Medicine Specialist
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 53.1% Female, 46.9%	Male, 33.6% Female, 66.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.0% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 23.5% White, 57.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 18.4% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between resident physician and emergency medicine specialist duties and responsibilities

Resident physician example responsibilities.

Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service
See CTO position with Vocada above.

Emergency medicine specialist example responsibilities.

Chart patient logs on the EMR.
Perform EKG testing and acquire patient vitals.
Assist the physician with EKG's, examinations, procedures and other duties.
Identify proper equipment and machine use, including goal-direct focused ultrasound to accurately diagnose and quickly resuscitate patients.
Perform appropriate history and physical examination to a diverse caseload of patients and order appropriate diagnostic lab work and studies.
Develop an ambulatory pediatrics curriculum for family medicine residents

Resident physician vs emergency medicine specialist skills

Common resident physician skills

Patients, 24%
Family Medicine, 13%
Medical Education, 6%
Primary Care, 6%
Internal Medicine, 5%
Psychiatry, 3%

Common emergency medicine specialist skills

Emergency Medicine, 32%
Patients, 26%
Critical Care, 8%
Patient Care, 7%
Acls, 5%
IM, 4%

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Resident Physician vs Emergency Medicine Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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