Job Types Overview

The physician job market is far broader than most residents realize. Your training prepared you for clinical medicine, but that’s one slice of what’s available.

Clinical or Non-Clinical?

The first fork in the road. Clinical roles involve direct patient care. Non-clinical roles use your medical expertise without seeing patients — think informatics, pharma, consulting, or administration.

Many physicians build hybrid careers: clinical three days a week, non-clinical the other two.

Practice Settings

• Outpatient — the traditional office-based model
• Inpatient — hospitalist, SNF, or long-term care
• Emergency — ER or urgent care
• Telehealth — fully remote or hybrid
• Occupational medicine — contractor (Concentra), company physician, public/city roles

Payment Models

• Fee-for-service (FFS) — traditional volume-based
• FFS with ACO — volume plus quality incentives
• Value-based — capitated, shared savings
• Salary/hourly — production-independent

Employer Types

• Health system — large integrated system, hospital-employed
• Independent practice — physician-owned
• FQHC/CHC — federally qualified health centers (PSLF eligible)
• Critical access hospital — rural, often with loan repayment programs
• VA / Military — federal employment, unique benefits
• Indian Health Service — federal, loan repayment eligible
• Prison/correctional — state or private contractor
• DPC / Concierge — direct-pay models
• PACE — Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly
• Medicare Advantage plans — employed by payers

Administrative & Leadership

• Site Medical Director
• CMO, CMIO, CHO — C-suite physician roles
• Public health — city, county, state, or federal

Digital Health & Non-Traditional

• Telehealth-only (50-staters) — multi-state licensure, fully remote
• Fractional CMO — part-time medical leadership for startups
• Health tech consulting
• VC / investing
• Medical-legal expert
• Utilization management