An emergency physician is a physician who specializes in emergency medicine. They typically work in the emergency department of a hospital and provide care to patients requiring urgent medical attention. Their scope of practice includes advanced cardiac life support (or advanced life support in Europe), resuscitation, trauma care (such as treatment of fractures and soft tissue injuries), and management of other life-threatening conditions. Alternative titles for this role include emergency medicine physician, emergentologist, ER physician, or ER doctor (with ER standing for an emergency room, primarily used in the United States).

In some European countries (e.g. Germany, Belgium, Poland, Austria, Denmark and Sweden), emergency physicians or anaesthetists are also part of the emergency medical service. They are dispatched together with emergency medical technicians and paramedics in cases of potentially life-threatening situations such as serious accident or injury, unconsciousness, heart attack, cardiac arrest, stroke, anaphylaxis, or drug overdose. In the United States, emergency physicians are mostly hospital-based, but also work on air ambulances and mobile intensive care units.

Patients who are brought in the emergency department are usually sent to triage first. The patient may be triaged by an emergency physician, a paramedic, or a nurse; in the United States, triage is usually performed by a registered nurse.The Emergency department is full of ER providers who also engage in regular continuing education to stay current with new clinical guidelines and developments in emergency medicine and patient care. Common responsibilities include reviewing diagnostic tests, like labs, CT scans, and X-rays. They also manage airway complications, perform complex procedures and initiate care for severe infections or acute neurological problems. In many hospitals worldwide emergency physicians also participate in educating medical students or residents during their shifts, helping maintain consistent standards of practice within the emergency department. Emergency medicine is a different breed, these residents and physicians have short hour shifts compared to other specialties, working usually 8 hour shifts compared to an admitting doctor who may work 12 hours or more. If the patient requires admission to the hospital, another physician, such as an internal medicine physician, cardiologist, or neurologist takes over from the emergency physician.