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What is a family physician and how to become one
When you were young and wanted to become a doctor, a family medicine practitioner is probably what you had in mind - stethoscope around the neck and white lab coat down to the knees. Sound familiar to you? As a family medicine practitioner, you will treat a variety of illnesses in children, adults, and the elderly.
Your day as a family medicine practitioner consists of you doing morning rounds and checking whether your patients have improved over the night, and assessing their vital signs. During your appointments, you will make use of your medical knowledge to diagnose and treat whatever illness your patient may be suffering from. This means you will need to be empathetic, analytical, methodical, and logical in order to be an exceptional family medicine practitioner.
The journey to attaining the ‘'Dr'' prefix and the M.D suffixed to your name is not an easy one. In order to become a family medicine practitioner, you will have to complete your undergraduate degree. Thereafter, you will go into medical school for another four years. Once you graduate as a doctor, you can then undertake a residency program in family medicine. After completing your residency, you can then practice medicine independently in either a clinic, hospital, private practice, or in a rural setting.
What general advice would you give to a Family Physician?
Janet Williams Ph.D.
Professor of Biology, College of Our Lady of the Elms
Avg. Salary $215,471
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth Rate 7%
Growth Rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%
Asian 19.08%
Black or African American 5.22%
Hispanic or Latino 9.69%
Unknown 4.47%
White 61.38%
Genderfemale 57.75%
male 42.25%
Age - 48American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 48Stress level is very high
7.1 - high
Complexity Level is advanced
7 - challenging
Work Life balance is good
6.4 - fair
Family Physician career paths
Key steps to become a family physician
Explore family physician education requirements
Start to develop specific family physician skills
Skills 
Percentages Patients 28.28% Family Medicine 25.80% Primary Care 14.81% Urgent Care 7.53% EMR 6.56% Complete relevant family physician training and internships
Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New family physicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a family physician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real family physician resumes.Research family physician duties and responsibilities
- Manage complicated and often difficult to control chronic medical conditions in patients with limit resources.
- Examine patients, using medical instruments and equipment; elicit and record information about patient's medical history.
- Perform hematology, chemistry and immunology screen test to provide immediate results for diagnosis.
- Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service
Prepare your family physician resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your family physician resume.
You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a family physician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Family Physician Resume templates
Build a professional Family Physician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Family Physician resume.
Apply for family physician jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a family physician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How Did You Land Your First Family Physician Job
Are you a Family Physician?
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Average family physician salary
The average Family Physician salary in the United States is $215,471 per year or $104 per hour. Family physician salaries range between $135,000 and $342,000 per year.
What Am I Worth?
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Updated January 8, 2025
