Family Medicine Physicians
What Family Medicine Physicians Do
Diagnose, treat, and provide preventive care to individuals and families across the lifespan. May refer patients to specialists when needed for further diagnosis or treatment.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Internship/residency
- Self-employed
- 4.5%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 5 of 5Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Experience
- Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
- Job training
- Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Medicine and Dentistryimportance 5.0/5
- English Languageimportance 4.7/5
- Therapy and Counselingimportance 4.6/5
- Psychologyimportance 4.5/5
- Biologyimportance 4.5/5
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.7/5
- Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.4/5
- Mathematicsimportance 3.3/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams5.0/5
- Contact With Others5.0/5
- Frequency of Decision Making5.0/5
- Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results5.0/5
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team5.0/5
- Freedom to Make Decisions5.0/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- General Internal Medicine Physicians98% skill match
- Neurologists98% skill match
- Physician Assistants98% skill match
- Nurse Practitioners97% skill match
- Nurse Midwives97% skill match
- Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary97% skill match
- Pediatricians, General97% skill match
- Occupational Therapists97% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 4.0/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 4.0/5
- Time Managementimportance 4.0/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.9/5
- Service Orientationimportance 3.9/5
- Instructingimportance 3.4/5
- Coordinationimportance 3.1/5
- Persuasionimportance 3.0/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
- Acrendo Medical Software Family Practice EMR
- Allscripts Professional EHR
- Billing software
- Brickell Research Brickell Medical Office
- ChartWare EMR
- Email software
- Epocrates
- Greenway Health PrimeSuite
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Integrity
- Cooperation
- Empathy
- Cautiousness
- Self-Control
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- SocialHigh
- InvestigativeHigh
- ConventionalMedium
- RealisticMedium
- EnterprisingLow
- ArtisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where family medicine physicians make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Columbia, MO9.93× national avg
- 2Aguadilla, PR5.10× national avg
- 3Mayaguez, PR4.43× national avg
- 4Grand Junction, CO4.27× national avg
- 5Pueblo, CO3.73× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- General Internal Medicine PhysiciansLateral Move
- Pediatricians, GeneralLateral Move
- Physician AssistantsLateral Move
- Nurse PractitionersLateral Move
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Medicine
- Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (Erie, PA)grads earn ~$138,038
- Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (Blacksburg, VA)grads earn ~$153,927
- Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)grads earn ~$130,503
- Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (Philadelphia, PA)grads earn ~$139,981
- Nova Southeastern University (Fort Lauderdale, FL)