Hospitalists
Provide inpatient care predominantly in settings such as medical wards, acute care units, intensive care units, rehabilitation centers, or emergency rooms. Manage and coordinate patient care throughout treatment.
Also called: Academic Hospitalist, Consultant Physician, DO Physician (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Physician), Hospitalist, Hospitalist Medical Doctor (Hospitalist MD), Hospitalist Nocturnist Physician
Median pay
$265,930
Pay for the broader BLS group “Physicians, All Other”
Pay range (10th–90th)
$69,170 – $452,360
People employed
342,720
Whole BLS group
Holland code
SIC
Social · Investigative · Conventional
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Is this career right for you?
These are the things that stand out in this job compared with other U.S. jobs (O*NET 31.0 work context). Answer honestly.
- 1.Are you OK working more than 40 hours a week?
- 2.Do you want to lead or coordinate other people’s work?
- 3.Do you work well under tight deadlines?
- 4.Are you happy talking and working with people most of the day?
- 5.Do you want a lot of freedom to make your own decisions?
- 6.Do you enjoy serving customers or the public?
- 7.Do you prefer working indoors?
The hard parts
- Exposure to disease or infection
- Mistakes can have serious consequences
- Tight deadlines are common
Hospitalists pay by state
Highest-paying states
Annual median pay by state (49 states and DC with published data). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025, for the broader group “Physicians, All Other”.
What hospitalists do
- 01Diagnose, treat, or provide continuous care to hospital inpatients.
- 02Prescribe medications or treatment regimens to hospital inpatients.
- 03Order or interpret the results of tests such as laboratory tests and radiographs (x-rays).
- 04Admit patients for hospital stays.
- 05Conduct discharge planning and discharge patients.
- 06Write patient discharge summaries and send them to primary care physicians.
Skills that matter most
- Active Learning
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
Knowledge
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Biology
- English Language
- Psychology
- Education and Training
Work styles that stand out
- Intellectual Curiosity
- Cooperation
- Achievement Orientation
- Social Orientation
- Self-Control
Education and first steps
Share of workers by required education, as reported to O*NET.
How people get started
- Usually needs a graduate degree (O*NET Job Zone 5).
- Related work experience: over 2 years, up to and including 4 years.
- On-the-job training: over 1 month, up to and including 3 months.
- A professional certification is often expected.
Most common answers from O*NET 31.0 Education, Training and Experience.
Interest fit (Holland code)
O*NET occupational interest scores, scale 1–7. Take the Free Career Test to compare with your own.
Career changes
Change from hospitalists
- Midwives84% · group pay
- Genetic Counselors83% · —
- Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary82% · —
- Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary79% · —
- Healthcare Social Workers78% · —
Majors that lead here
- Medicine
- Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy
- Pain Management
- Combined Medical Residency/Fellowship Program, General
- Family Medicine/Osteopathic Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine Combined Specialty Program
- Family Medicine/Preventive Medicine Combined Specialty Program
- Internal Medicine/Medical Genetics and Genomics Combined Specialty Program
- Internal Medicine/Preventive Medicine Combined Specialty Program
- Medical Genetics and Genomics/Maternal-Fetal Medicine Combined Specialty Program
- Pediatrics/Medical Genetics and Genomics Combined Specialty Program
- Pediatrics/Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Combined Specialty Program
- Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility/Medical Genetics and Genomics Combined Specialty Program
From the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk.