Career profile for Family Medicine Physician

What does a Family Medicine Physician do?

Family Medicine Physicians diagnose, treat, and provide preventive care to individuals and families across the lifespan.

In addition, Family Medicine Physicians may refer patients to specialists when needed for further diagnosis or treatment.

What kind of tasks does a Family Medicine Physician perform regularly?

Family Medicine Physicians are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Prescribe or administer treatment, therapy, medication, vaccination, and other specialized medical care to treat or prevent illness, disease, or injury in infants and children.
Order, perform, and interpret tests and analyze records, reports, and examination information to diagnose patients' condition.
Collect, record, and maintain patient information, such as medical histories, reports, or examination results.
Monitor patients' conditions and progress and reevaluate treatments as necessary.
Explain procedures and discuss test results or prescribed treatments with patients and parents or guardians.
Advise patients and community members concerning diet, activity, hygiene, and disease prevention.
Direct and coordinate activities of nurses, students, assistants, specialists, therapists, and other medical staff.
Refer patients to medical specialists or other practitioners when necessary.
Coordinate work with nurses, social workers, rehabilitation therapists, pharmacists, psychologists, and other health care providers.
Plan, implement, or administer health programs or standards in hospitals, businesses, or communities for prevention or treatment of injury or illness.
Train residents, medical students, and other health care professionals.

The above responsibilities are specific to Family Medicine Physicians. More generally, Family Medicine Physicians are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Assisting and Caring for Others		Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.
Documenting/Recording Information		Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge		Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Working with Computers		Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

Assisting and Caring for Others

Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.

Documenting/Recording Information

Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge

Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.

Getting Information

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Working with Computers

Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.

What is a Family Medicine Physician salary?

The median salary for a Family Medicine Physician is $207,380, and the average salary is $214,370. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Family Medicine Physician salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Family Medicine Physicians earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Family Medicine Physicians earn less than $79,610 per year, 25% earn less than $148,320, 75% earn more than $208,000, and 90% earn more than $208,000.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Family Medicine Physicians is expected to change by 4.9%, and there should be roughly 3,500 open positions for Family Medicine Physicians every year.

Median annual salary: $207,380
Typical salary range: $79,610 - Over $208,000
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 4.9%

What personality traits are common among Family Medicine Physicians?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Family Medicine Physician are usually higher in their Investigative, Social, and Realistic interests.

Family Medicine Physicians typically have very strong Investigative interests. Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

Also, Family Medicine Physicians typically have very strong Social interests. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Lastly, Family Medicine Physicians typically have moderate Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Family Medicine Physician tend to value Relationships, Achievement, and Recognition.

Most importantly, Family Medicine Physicians very strongly value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Second, Family Medicine Physicians very strongly value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Lastly, Family Medicine Physicians very strongly value Recognition. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Family Medicine Physicians must consistently demonstrate qualities such as attention to detail, dependability, and achievement/effort.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Family Medicine Physicians, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Achievement/Effort		Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Analytical Thinking		Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
Concern for Others		Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.

Attention to Detail

Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Achievement/Effort

Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

Analytical Thinking

Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.

Concern for Others

Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.

What education and training do Family Medicine Physicians need?

Many Family Medicine Physicians have earned a graduate degree. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a doctoral degree, such as a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D..

Family Medicine Physicians may need some on-the-job training, but most candidates will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Educational degrees among Family Medicine Physicians

100.0% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Family Medicine Physicians

Family Medicine Physicians may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as medicine and dentistry, therapy and counseling, or biology knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Family Medicine Physicians might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
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.
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.
Biology		Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
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.
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.

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.

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.

Biology

Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

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.

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.

Important Abilities needed by Family Medicine Physicians

Family Medicine Physicians must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Family Medicine Physicians need abilities such as problem sensitivity, oral comprehension, and oral expression in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Family Medicine Physicians, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
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 that there is a problem.
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.
Written Comprehension		The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Deductive Reasoning		The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

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 that there is a problem.

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.

Written Comprehension

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Deductive Reasoning

The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Critical Skills needed by Family Medicine Physicians

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Family Medicine Physicians frequently use skills like critical thinking, reading comprehension, and active listening to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Family Medicine Physicians, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Critical Thinking		Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Reading Comprehension		Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
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.
Writing		Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

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.

Writing

Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Family Medicine Physician

Family Medicine Physician

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