Skip to content
Career Change Finder
Healthcare · Usually needs a graduate degree

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians

Also called: Rehabilitation Physicians

Diagnose and treat disorders requiring physiotherapy to provide physical, mental, and occupational rehabilitation.

Also called: Acute Rehabilitation Unit Physiatrist, Attending Physician, DO Physician (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Physician), EDX Medicine MD (Electrodiagnostic Medicine Medical Doctor), Interventional Pain Physician, Interventional Physiatrist

Is this career right for me?

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

ISR

Investigative · Social · Realistic

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. 1.Do you want a lot of freedom to make your own decisions?
  2. 2.Are you OK working more than 40 hours a week?
  3. 3.Do you prefer working indoors?
  4. 4.Do you want the same hours every week?

The hard parts

  • Mistakes can have serious consequences
  • Exposure to disease or infection
  • Tight deadlines are common

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians pay by state

Highest-paying states

North Dakota$454,550
Montana$438,850
Maine$419,410
Wisconsin$391,740
Minnesota$367,320

Lowest-paying states

District of Columbia$77,430
Illinois$132,540
Arkansas$136,880

Annual median pay by state (49 states and DC with published data). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025, for the broader group “Physicians, All Other”.

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians salary in every state →

What physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians do

  1. 01Document examination results, treatment plans, and patients' outcomes.
  2. 02Examine patients to assess mobility, strength, communication, or cognition.
  3. 03Develop comprehensive plans for immediate and long-term rehabilitation, including therapeutic exercise, speech and occupational therapy, counseling, cognitive retraining, patient, family or caregiver education, or community reintegration.
  4. 04Assess characteristics of patients' pain, such as intensity, location, or duration, using standardized clinical measures.
  5. 05Monitor effectiveness of pain management interventions, such as medication or spinal injections.
  6. 06Provide inpatient or outpatient medical management of neuromuscular disorders, musculoskeletal trauma, acute and chronic pain, deformity or amputation, cardiac or pulmonary disease, or other disabling conditions.

Skills that matter most

  • Critical Thinking
  • Active Listening
  • Speaking
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Writing
  • Monitoring

Knowledge

  • Medicine and Dentistry
  • English Language
  • Psychology
  • Biology
  • Therapy and Counseling

Work styles that stand out

  • Intellectual Curiosity
  • Cooperation
  • Achievement Orientation
  • Social Orientation
  • Self-Control

Education and first steps

Bachelor's Degree1%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.1%
Doctoral Degree55%
Post-Doctoral Training43%

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 2 years, up to and including 4 years.
  • A professional certification is often expected.

Most common answers from O*NET 31.0 Education, Training and Experience.

Interest fit (Holland code)

Realistic4.92
Investigative6.26
Artistic1.87
Social6.00
Enterprising1.69
Conventional3.00

O*NET occupational interest scores, scale 1–7. Take the Free Career Test to compare with your own.

Career changes

Change from physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians

See all jobs for former physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians →

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.

Free help near you

You can get free career counseling, job search help and, if you qualify, help paying for training through American Job Centers, which are funded by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Find an American Job CenterFind training programs

Links go to CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Keep exploring

Sources. O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0): description, tasks, skills, knowledge, work styles, education, interests and work context. Pay and employment: BLS OEWS May 2025 (national and state). Majors: NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Data Sources & Licenses