What does a staff physician do?
A Staff Physician oversees and directs the work of physicians and mid-level practitioners, and assists in internal quality control audits. They are also responsible for making diagnoses and prescribing specialized treatment plans.
Staff physician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real staff physician resumes:
- Initiate new treatment protocols for managing complex patients with co-morbid psychiatric and medical illnesses.
- Read x-ray & ekg till refer to specialist.
- Serve as a junior house physician in the pediatrics and neonatology intensive care unit.
- Assist and independently place hem dialysis catheter.
- Initial medical evaluation and medical management of patients receiving medication assist therapy for chemical dependency.
- Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service
- Support medical billing projects by contributing extensive quality assurance support to CPT coders.
- Case, endotracheal intubation and artificial mechanical ventilation to which it require, bladder catheterizations rectal and nasogastric.
Staff physician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 28% of Staff Physicians are proficient in Patients, Surgery, and Internal Medicine. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Staff Physicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 28%
Obtain medical transcriptions from physicians and collecting/processing patients' co-payments.
- Surgery, 10%
General practice of Obstetrics and Gynecology including deliveries and surgery.
- Internal Medicine, 7%
Received excellent primary care internal medicine satisfaction reports.
- Rehabilitation, 7%
Provided humanitarian services to the indigent and community outreach centers including drug and alcohol rehabilitation and tobacco cessation programs.
- Primary Care, 7%
Provided a full range of primary care/family medical services.
- Veterans, 5%
Provide comprehensive medical care to Veterans.
"patients," "surgery," and "internal medicine" are among the most common skills that staff physicians use at work. You can find even more staff physician responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a staff 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 staff physician resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "maintained contact with patients and communications patient's condition to family and friends in an understandable manner. "
Compassion. Many staff physician duties rely on compassion. "patients who are sick or injured may be in extreme pain or distress," so a staff physician will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways staff physician responsibilities rely on compassion: "foster cheerful, positive outlook and provide compassionate response to patients' emotional needs. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for staff physicians to perform their duties. For an example of how staff physician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "patients must receive appropriate treatment and medications." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a staff physician: "maintain accurate medical records and documents patients' case history in detail manner. ".
Dexterity. A big part of what staff physicians do relies on "dexterity." You can see how essential it is to staff 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 staff physician tasks: "help move / lift patients with limited mobility to chair, bed. "
Leadership skills. A commonly-found skill in staff physician job descriptions, "leadership skills" is essential to what staff physicians do. Staff 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 staff physician duties rely on leadership skills in this resume example: "assisted nursing leadership with icu and telemetry bed triage at times of high census. "
Physical stamina. Lastly, "physical stamina" is an important element of what a staff physician does. Staff 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 staff physician duties rely on this skill: "performed physical exams, diagnosed medical issues, helped in wellness examinations"
The three companies that hire the most staff physicians are:
- St Joseph Medical Group111 staff physicians jobs
- Scripps Health18 staff physicians jobs
- Parkland Hospital16 staff physicians jobs
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Compare different staff physicians
Staff physician vs. Medical doctor
A Medical Doctor, also known as a physician, is a healthcare professional who diagnoses and treats patients from injuries and illnesses. As a Medical Doctor, your day-to-day duties will typically include assessing a patient's symptoms, prescribing and administering treatment to patients, and providing follow-up medical care to patients. You will be responsible for interpreting patients' laboratory results and referring them to other providers when needed. Also, you will need to work closely with other healthcare professionals and promote health education.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, staff physician responsibilities require skills like "rehabilitation," "veterans," "physician assistants," and "pediatrics." Meanwhile a typical medical doctor has skills in areas such as "patient care," "diagnosis," "medical care," and "medical treatment." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Medical doctors tend to make the most money working in the transportation industry, where they earn an average salary of $180,010. In contrast, staff physicians make the biggest average salary, $196,188, in the health care industry.On average, medical doctors reach similar levels of education than staff physicians. Medical doctors are 3.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 18.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Staff physician vs. Chiropractor, sole practitioner
Family practice doctors provide lifelong care for a patient and their family. They offer medical attention to all family members, educates patients on disease prevention, provide health maintenance, and ensure mental and emotional needs are met. They manage basic complaints, like colds or flus, and also treat chronic illnesses, like asthma, diabetes, or degenerative conditions. They provide ongoing personalized care. Doctors must be empathetic, professional, and knowledgeable.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, staff physician responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "patients," "surgery," "internal medicine," and "rehabilitation." Meanwhile, a chiropractor, sole practitioner has duties that require skills in areas such as "litigation," "real estate transactions," "probate," and "bench trials." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Chiropractors, sole practitioner earn similar levels of education than staff physicians in general. They're 3.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 18.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for staff 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.
Staff physician vs. Family practice doctor
A family practice MD is responsible for monitoring and diagnosing patients' conditions of all ages. Family practice MDs identify the patients' medical histories and administer treatment plans and medications. They also coordinate with other medical professionals for further laboratory examinations. A family practice MD must have excellent communication and extensive knowledge of the medical industry to identify the best treatment methods for the patients. Family practice MDs keep an organized record of medical charts for reference and reports.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from staff physician resumes include skills like "rehabilitation," "primary care," "veterans," and "physician assistants," whereas a family practice doctor is more likely to list skills in "patient care," "outpatient clinic," "disease prevention," and "physical exams. "
When it comes to education, family practice doctors tend to earn similar degree levels compared to staff physicians. In fact, they're 3.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Staff physician vs. Family practice md
Types of staff physician
Updated January 8, 2025
