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.
Resident physician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real resident physician resumes:
- Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service
- See CTO position with Vocada above.
Resident physician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 24% of Resident Physicians are proficient in Patients, Family Medicine, and Medical Education. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Resident Physicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 24%
Conducted initial evaluation of patients followed by formulation and execution of management plan in both outpatient and inpatient settings.
- Family Medicine, 13%
Exercise family medicine and emergency medicine and medical emergencies.
- Medical Education, 6%
Direct and coordinate teaching topics for medical education and facilitated teaching of medical students.
- Primary Care, 6%
Conducted a two-week elective clinical rotation in primary care sports medicine.
- Internal Medicine, 5%
Combined Residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics.
- Psychiatry, 3%
Completed three years of training in adult psychiatry.
Most resident physicians use their skills in "patients," "family medicine," and "medical education" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential resident physician responsibilities here:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a resident physician to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "physicians and surgeons need to be excellent communicators." Resident physicians often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "created the accounting department from scratch and built a better business model for improved communication and accuracy between directors. "
Compassion. Another essential skill to perform resident physician duties is compassion. Resident physicians responsibilities require that "patients who are sick or injured may be in extreme pain or distress." Resident physicians also use compassion in their role according to a real resume snippet: "treat patients and family with compassion and provide high-quality customer care. "
Detail oriented. resident physicians are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to resident physician responsibilities, because "patients must receive appropriate treatment and medications." A resident physician resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "interviewed patients and compiled detailed patient history and physical examination. "
Dexterity. resident physician responsibilities often require "dexterity." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "physicians and surgeons may work with very precise and sometimes sharp tools, and mistakes can have serious consequences." This resume example shows what resident physicians do with dexterity on a typical day: "conducted hands-on minor surgical procedures such as homeostasis, debridement, suturing and dressing the wound. "
Leadership skills. A commonly-found skill in resident physician job descriptions, "leadership skills" is essential to what resident physicians do. Resident physician responsibilities rely on this skill because "physicians who work in their own practice must manage a staff of other professionals." You can also see how resident physician duties rely on leadership skills in this resume example: "collaborated with residency program leadership to assist in the preparation for intern applicant interviews and weekly didactic sessions"
Physical stamina. Another skill commonly found on resident physician job descriptions is "physical stamina." It can come up quite often in resident physician duties, since "physicians and surgeons should be comfortable lifting or turning disabled patients, or performing other physical tasks." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day resident physician responsibilities: "managed clinical history charting and patient physical examinations according to standards. "
The three companies that hire the most resident physicians are:
- UnitedHealth Group17 resident physicians jobs
- Baptist Health Care13 resident physicians jobs
- Spectrum Health4 resident physicians jobs
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Compare different resident physicians
Resident physician vs. Hospital fellow
A doctor is a medical expert who diagnoses and treats illnesses and injuries, often specializing in particular areas. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting initial interviews and examinations, studying a patient's medical history and laboratory results, providing consultations and care advice, prescribing medication, and referring patients to specialists when necessary. They must also coordinate and maintain an active communication line with nurses, administrators, and technicians for a smooth workflow. Moreover, a doctor must educate patients about their health conditions, helping them understand their situation better.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a resident physician are more likely to require skills like "patients," "family medicine," "ob," and "medical education." On the other hand, a job as a hospital fellow requires skills like "acute care," "hospital operations," "surgery," and "mph." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, hospital fellows reach similar levels of education than resident physicians. Hospital fellows are 1.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 27.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Resident physician vs. Doctor
An otolaryngologist is a physician who specializes in the care and treatment of the ear, nose, and throat and is commonly known as an ENT (ear, nose, and throat). This type of doctor is unique because they are trained in both medicine and surgery. Otolaryngologists diagnose and treat diseases and perform surgery on these organs as well. ENTs are engaged to work in hospitals and other medical facilities, operate private clinics, or go into teaching.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, resident physician responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "family medicine," "ob," "medical education," and "psychiatry." Meanwhile, a doctor has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer service," "surgery," "dr," and "strong work ethic." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Doctors earn a higher average salary than resident physicians. But doctors earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $178,767. Additionally, resident physicians earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $71,876 annually.In general, doctors achieve similar levels of education than resident physicians. They're 0.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 27.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for resident physicians in the next 3-5 years?
Janet Williams Ph.D.
Professor of Biology, College of Our Lady of the Elms
Possibly, a little further out, will be genome sequencing to determine health risks for patients. It might even be able to prescribe lifestyle and nutrition best-practices for individuals, based on their genetics.
Resident physician vs. Otolaryngologist
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from resident physician resumes include skills like "family medicine," "ob," "medical education," and "primary care," whereas an otolaryngologist is more likely to list skills in "nose," "emr," "private practice," and "mri. "
Most otolaryngologists achieve a similar degree level compared to resident physicians. For example, they're 1.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 23.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Resident physician vs. Pulmonologist
Even though a few skill sets overlap between resident physicians and pulmonologists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a resident physician might have more use for skills like "patients," "family medicine," "ob," and "medical education." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of pulmonologists require skills like "emr," "copd," "exam rooms," and "lung diseases. "
The health care industry tends to pay the highest salaries for pulmonologists, with average annual pay of $226,418. Comparatively, the highest resident physician annual salary comes from the health care industry.In general, pulmonologists hold lower degree levels compared to resident physicians. Pulmonologists are 9.0% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 31.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of resident physician
Updated January 8, 2025
