General Internal Medicine Physicians

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$256,560

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$124,470 – $374,850

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

67,150

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

+4%

At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)

Openings a year (projected)

1,900

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

Doctoral or professional degree

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Diagnose and provide nonsurgical treatment for a wide range of diseases and injuries of internal organ systems. Provide care mainly for adults and adolescents, and are based primarily in an outpatient care setting.

Main tasks

• Analyze records, reports, test results, or examination information to diagnose medical condition of patient.
• Treat internal disorders, such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, or problems of the lung, brain, kidney, or gastrointestinal tract.
• Prescribe or administer medication, therapy, and other specialized medical care to treat or prevent illness, disease, or injury.
• Manage and treat common health problems, such as infections, influenza or pneumonia, as well as serious, chronic, and complex illnesses, in adolescents, adults, and the elderly.
• Provide and manage long-term, comprehensive medical care, including diagnosis and nonsurgical treatment of diseases, for adult patients in an office or hospital.
• Explain procedures and discuss test results or prescribed treatments with patients.
• Advise patients and community members concerning diet, activity, hygiene, and disease prevention.
• Make diagnoses when different illnesses occur together or in situations where the diagnosis may be obscure.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

Doctoral or professional degree

Training once hired: internship/residency

O*NET Job Zone 5

Extensive preparation

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).

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 12 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

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