What does a senior physician do?
A senior physician specializes in diagnosing and treating different medical conditions. They typically offer consultations and check-ups, conduct examinations, study patients' medical histories, and guide patients through different treatments. A senior physician is a medical expert with years of experience, which gives them the authority to oversee various medical projects and operations, lead junior physicians, and participate in developing and implementing the facility's standards and regulations.
Senior physician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior physician resumes:
- Manage emergency medical treatments on patients with life threatening illnesses and/or injuries.
- Work closely with patients to manage their depression and anxiety beginning with initial diagnosis to med-initiation and follow-up care.
- Assist with dental surgery and lab procedures.
- Provide training and education of clients on EMR submission.
- Participate and conduct hospital rounds, ICU rounds, consultation, writes orders, and being on calls for trauma patients.
- Monitor patients's progress and condition, re-evaluat treatments as necessary.
- Work with pediatric populations, associate pediatric illness perform suturing orthopedic emergencies fracture care, reduction, splint and cast placement.
- market mapping, social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc . )
- Provide screenings for hypertension or lipid panel.
- Review patient MRI and put relevant pages on viewing box for physician.
- Prepare and assist physician with injections, application of casts and/or custom splints.
- Coordinate and conduct the fitting/dispensing of upper/lower extremity braces, as well as developing splints and assisting in the casting process.
- Develop and implement a blog site to build awareness and interest in correctional psychiatry.
- Review and update guidelines for internal cardiac defibrillator (ICD) and pacemaker implantation.
Senior physician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 31% of Senior Physicians are proficient in Patients, Internal Medicine, and Primary Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Senior Physicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 31%
Performed physical examinations, diagnosis and treatment assessment of patients under the supervision of Senior Physician.
- Internal Medicine, 6%
General Internal Medicine responsible for inpatient hospital care of state prisoners.
- Primary Care, 6%
Managed large territory of 300 primary care physicians, endocrinologists, oncologists and diabetes educators.
- Family Practice, 5%
Provided comprehensive family practice services to patients in a physician shortage area.
- Patient Care, 5%
Assist physicians and hospital/healthcare systems with new models of patient care.
- EMR, 5%
Processed Medication refill requests and prior authorizations utilizing EMR.
Common skills that a senior physician uses to do their job include "patients," "internal medicine," and "primary care." You can find details on the most important senior physician responsibilities below.
Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for a senior physician to carry out their responsibilities is interpersonal skills. This skill is important for the role because "physician assistants must work well as part of a team of other healthcare professionals to ensure proper patient care." Additionally, a senior physician resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "maintain positive interpersonal and communication skills with colleagues, patients, families, and providers. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform senior physician duties is communication skills. Senior physicians responsibilities require that "physician assistants must explain complex medical issues in a way that patients can understand." Senior physicians also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "maintained constant communication with the hospitals and candidates throughout the entire recruitment process attended several local physician residency events"
Detail oriented. senior physicians are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to senior physician responsibilities, because "physician assistants should be observant and have a strong ability to focus when evaluating and treating patients." A senior physician resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "provide detailed biographical information about various specialists and primary care providers. "
Compassion. For certain senior physician responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "compassion." The day-to-day duties of a senior physician rely on this skill, as "physician assistants deal with patients who are sick or injured and who may be in extreme pain or distress." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what senior physicians do: "demonstrated exceptional teamwork skills interacting with corporate patients, physicians, and support staff with competency and compassion. "
Emotional stability. Another common skill required for senior physician responsibilities is "emotional stability." This skill comes up in the duties of senior physicians all the time, as "physician assistants, particularly those working in surgery or emergency medicine, should work well under pressure." An excerpt from a real senior physician resume shows how this skill is central to what a senior physician does: "provided instructions to patients on preventative care, emotional well-being, and health maintenance. "
Problem-solving skills. Another skill commonly found on senior physician job descriptions is "problem-solving skills." It can come up quite often in senior physician duties, since "physician assistants need to evaluate patients’ symptoms and administer the appropriate treatments." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day senior physician responsibilities: "full scope provider relations senior representative which included vendor account management, credentialing, network development contracting and issue resolution. "
The three companies that hire the most senior physicians are:
- Bristol-Myers Squibb56 senior physicians jobs
- Mount Sinai Health System11 senior physicians jobs
- My Florida Regional Mls7 senior physicians jobs
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Compare different senior physicians
Senior physician vs. Midlevel provider
A Physician Assistant supports the doctors work and actively facilitates patients recovery. An Internal Medicine uses nonsurgical approaches to treat medical conditions that affect adults.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, senior physician responsibilities require skills like "patients," "internal medicine," "primary care," and "family practice." Meanwhile a typical midlevel provider has skills in areas such as "physical exams," "diagnostic procedures," "emergency room," and "diagnostic tests." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Midlevel providers tend to reach higher levels of education than senior physicians. In fact, midlevel providers are 25.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 3.7% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Senior physician vs. Physician assistant, internal medicine
Each career also uses different skills, according to real senior physician resumes. While senior physician responsibilities can utilize skills like "internal medicine," "patient care," "emr," and "surgery," physician assistants, internal medicine use skills like "bls," "diagnosis," "acute care," and "physical exams."
Physician assistants, internal medicine may earn a lower salary than senior physicians, but physician assistants, internal medicine earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $126,948. On the other hand, senior physicians receive higher pay in the pharmaceutical industry, where they earn an average salary of $177,296.In general, physician assistants, internal medicine achieve higher levels of education than senior physicians. They're 19.0% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 3.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior physician vs. Gynecological assistant
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, senior physicians are more likely to have skills like "patients," "primary care," "family practice," and "emr." But a gynecological assistant is more likely to have skills like "ob," "chemotherapy," "vital signs," and "lab results."
Most gynecological assistants achieve a lower degree level compared to senior physicians. For example, they're 13.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 14.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior physician vs. Anesthetic assistant
Types of senior physician
Updated January 8, 2025
