Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians

Diagnose and treat disorders requiring physiotherapy to provide physical, mental, and occupational rehabilitation.

Most important skills

Critical Thinking
Reading Comprehension
Active Listening
Speaking
Social Perceptiveness
Complex Problem Solving
Judgment and Decision Making
Writing

Key knowledge

Medicine and Dentistry
English Language
Psychology
Biology
Therapy and Counseling
Customer and Personal Service
Education and Training
Administrative

What the work involves

Instruct interns and residents in the diagnosis and treatment of temporary or permanent physically disabling conditions.
Conduct physical tests, such as functional capacity evaluations, to determine injured workers' capabilities to perform the physical demands of their jobs.
Assess characteristics of patients' pain, such as intensity, location, or duration, using standardized clinical measures.
Monitor effectiveness of pain management interventions, such as medication or spinal injections.
Examine patients to assess mobility, strength, communication, or cognition.
Document examination results, treatment plans, and patients' outcomes.
Diagnose or treat performance-related conditions, such as sports injuries or repetitive-motion injuries.
Develop comprehensive plans for immediate and long-term rehabilitation, including therapeutic exercise, speech and occupational therapy, counseling, cognitive retraining, patient, family or caregiver education, or community reintegration.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Investigative, Social, Realistic.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Doctoral Degree (54.9% of respondents)
Related experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (36%)
On-the-job training: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (37.5%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Projection education uses SOC 29-1229 (detailed_parent); it may describe a broader group.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	High	Higher on contact with others than 64% of occupations compared	60% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	High	Higher on dealing with the public than 64% of occupations compared	40% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Teamwork	High	Higher on teamwork than 64% of occupations compared	56% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Freedom to make decisions	Very high	Higher on freedom to make decisions than 97% of occupations compared	88% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom”
Time pressure	Low	Lower on time pressure than 62% of occupations compared	36% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day”
Conflict situations	High	Higher on conflict situations than 76% of occupations compared	48% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	High	Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 70% of occupations compared	40% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Consequence of error	Very high	Higher on consequence of error than 88% of occupations compared	36% of surveyed respondents chose “Very serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: low
Conflict situations: high
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
Consequence of error: very high

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions