Physician (General Practitioner)

Career Overview

General practitioners and family physicians diagnose and treat the diseases, physiological disorders, and injuries of patients. They provide primary contact and continuous care for patients.

Education

This career requires a lot of education! To be a physician, a person must first obtain a four-year bachelor’s degree in any field of study (while making sure to complete the appropriate pre-med courses). Then, one must attend medical school for another 4 years followed by an additional 3-7 years of training in order to specialize in a particular area of medicine. You must be ready to be in school for a long time to do this!

Future Outlook

Overall employment of physicians and surgeons is projected to grow 4 percent from 2019 to 2029, about as fast as the average for all occupations. The growing and aging population is expected to drive overall growth in the demand for physician services.

Work Environment

Physicians work in hospitals, medical clinics, and doctor's offices. Many physicians work long hours and may have to be on call during some of their time away from work.

Recommended High School Courses

Communication
First Aid
Nutrition
Computer Applications
Health science
Anatomy
Physiology
Health & fitness

Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Science - Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Flexibility of Closure - The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Perceptual Speed - The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Time Sharing - The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Analyze test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment.
Collect medical information from patients, family members, or other medical professionals.
Immunize patients.
Order medical diagnostic or clinical tests.
Prescribe medications.
Prescribe treatments or therapies.
Record patient medical histories.
Explain medical procedures or test results to patients or family members.
Monitor patient progress or responses to treatments.
Advise communities or institutions regarding health or safety issues.
Provide health and wellness advice to patients, program participants, or caregivers.
Supervise patient care personnel.
Refer patients to other healthcare practitioners or health resources.
Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.
Design public or employee health programs.
Direct healthcare delivery programs.
Operate on patients to treat conditions.
Prepare official health documents or records.
Train medical providers.

Schools

Bradley University

Brenau University

Brown University

Illinois State University

Indiana University- North...

Indiana University-purdue...

Jacksonville University

Keiser University- Fort L...

Kentucky State University

Lee University

Liberty University

Lubbock Christian Univers...

Madonna University

Malone University

Marquette University

Maryville University

Mcneese State University

Mercer University

Midwestern State Universi...

Missouri State University

Morehead State University

Mount Mercy University

Murray State University

Nebraska Methodist Colleg...

Northwest Nazarene Univer...

Ohio University

Old Dominion University

Pace University- Nyc Camp...

Pennsylvania State Univer...

Purdue University- Northw...

Quinnipiac University

Regis University

Sacred Heart University

Saint Mary-of-the-woods C...

Saint Mary's College - No...

Saint Xavier University

Salisbury University

Samford University

Simmons University

Southern University And A...

St. Catherine University

Suny Polytechnic Institut...

Suny Upstate Medical Univ...

Texas A & M University- C...

Troy University

University Of California-...

University Of Central Flo...

University Of Colorado- D...

University Of Detroit Mer...

University Of Hawaii- Hil...

University Of Iowa

University Of Kansas- Law...

University Of Mary

University Of Maryland- S...

University Of Michigan- A...

University Of Missouri- C...

University Of New Mexico

University Of North Carol...

University Of North Flori...

University Of Northern Co...

University Of Pennsylvani...

University Of San Francis...

University Of St. Francis

University Of Washington-...

Viterbo University

Walden University

Walsh University

Wayne State University

Western Kentucky Universi...

Widener University

Winston-salem State Unive...

Dalhousie University

Mcgill University

Mcmaster University

Memorial University

Queen's University- Ki...

Schulich School Of Med...

Université Laval

University Of Alberta

University Of British...

University Of Sherbroo...

Potential Scholarships

5 Strong Scholarship

Agnes M. Lindsay Scholars...

Approx Salary Expectation

Currency:

Low End:

$155,206.00 /yr

Avg/Med:

$208,890.00 /yr

High End:

$256,078.00 /yr

Related Careers

Psychologists

Dental Hygienist

Surgical Technologists

Biological Engineering

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
Salary.com, https://www.salary.com/.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.