Respiratory Physician
What the work is
Investigates, diagnoses and treats diseases and disorders of the human respiratory system.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Consults and conducts respiratory examinations on patients to form a comprehensive medical assessment
- Requests laboratory tests, imaging, respiratory function tests and other diagnostic procedures
- Diagnoses patients by analysing test results and evaluating other health information related to respiratory conditions
- Performs or supervises pleural procedures and bronchoscopy
- Prescribes and manages medications and non-pharmacological treatments, including oxygen therapy and non-invasive ventilation
- Liaises and consults with a multidisciplinary team for optimised treatment of respiratory conditions
- Provides ongoing support in treating acute and chronic respiratory conditions
- Develops management plans for the prevention and treatment of both acute and long-term respiratory conditions
- May oversee respiratory function and sleep scientists and laboratories, and interpret results of respiratory function and sleep tests
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a hospital ward and outpatient clinic where specialist physicians see older adults. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A puzzling set of symptoms suddenly makes sense and the right treatment starts
- An older patient goes home to the place they love, with the right support
- A junior doctor you teach asks a question you had not thought of
Hard days
- Families who disagree with each other, and with the patient, about what should happen next
- Pressure to free up a bed when the person in it is not yet ready to leave
- Conversations about what matters most that nobody is eager to have
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 264345, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.