Hospitalists
Health ScienceO*NET 29-1229.02United States
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.
- Median annual earnings
- $264,678
- Projected change
- +6.6%
- Typical education
- Doctoral degree or more
- Employment
- 383.26K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
88% of the workforce
Growing to 408.63K by 2035
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Build the skills
ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What hospitalists do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Prescribe medications or treatment regimens to hospital inpatients.
- Diagnose, treat, or provide continuous care to hospital inpatients.
- Order or interpret the results of tests such as laboratory tests and radiographs (x-rays).
- Admit patients for hospital stays.
- Conduct discharge planning and discharge patients.
- Write patient discharge summaries and send them to primary care physicians.
- Refer patients to medical specialists, social services, or other professionals as appropriate.
- Direct, coordinate, or supervise the patient care activities of nursing or support staff.
- Attend inpatient consultations in areas of specialty.
- Communicate with patients' primary care physicians upon admission, when treatment plans change, or at discharge to maintain continuity and quality of care.
- Participate in continuing education activities to maintain or enhance knowledge and skills.
- Direct or support quality improvement projects or safety programs.
- Direct the operations of short stay or specialty units.
- Train or supervise medical students, residents, or other health professionals.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $68,159
- 25th percentile
- $103,400
- 50th percentile
- $264,678
- 75th percentile
- $378,194
- 90th percentile
- $457,922
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $264,678 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+6.6%faster than average
2025383,256 jobs
2035 projected408,631 jobs
25,375 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Doctoral degree or more
- 88%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 8%
- Bachelor's degree
- 4%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- 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.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Hospitalists10,065 postings
- 02Hospitalists Physician5,867 postings
- 03Locum Tenens Hospitalists3,626 postings
- 04Hospitalists Nocturnist Physician1,593 postings
- 05Pediatric Hospitalists1,259 postings
- 06Locum Tenens Hospitalists Physician939 postings
- 07Neurohospitalists809 postings
- 08Locum Tenens Pediatric Hospitalists807 postings
- 09Advanced Practice Providers526 postings
- 10Locums Tenens484 postings
- 11OB/GYN Hospitalists433 postings
- 12OB/GYN Physicians377 postings
- 13DO Physicians362 postings
- 14Nocturnist Hospitalists350 postings
- 15Obstetrics Hospitalists350 postings
- 16Nocturnists319 postings
- 17Locum Tenens Emergency Medicine Physicians275 postings
- 18Neurology Hospitalists275 postings
- 19Nocturnist Physicians222 postings
- 20Internal Medicine Hospitalists221 postings
Top employers
- 01CompHealth2,834 postings
- 02Weatherby Healthcare2,275 postings
- 03Hayman Daugherty Associates1,828 postings
- 04All Star HealthCare999 postings
- 05Medicus Healthcare Solutions962 postings
- 06AMN Healthcare856 postings
- 07Enterprise Medical Recruiting719 postings
- 08National Staffing Solutions687 postings
- 09Team Health636 postings
- 10Jackson Physician Search540 postings
- 11The Curare Group484 postings
- 12Vohra Wound Physicians477 postings
- 13Sound Physicians451 postings
- 14Britt Medical Search410 postings
- 15VISTA Staffing Solutions352 postings
- 16LocumTenens.com351 postings
- 17Viemed Healthcare Staffing331 postings
- 18Practicematch330 postings
- 19HCA Healthcare304 postings
- 20CommonSpirit Health262 postings
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