Infectious Diseases Physician
Infectious diseases physicians diagnose and treat complex infections, and their advice shapes how antibiotics are used across a hospital.
- Median salary*
- $202,800
4.5%vs last year, before tax
- People employed*
- 780
2.5%vs last year
- Projected growth*
- +12%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Low
- automation risk
- Average hours*
- 44/wk
+4h vs all jobs
- Shortage status*
- In shortage
national
Most infectious diseases physicians work in hospital consultation services, advising the team that admitted the patient on what is causing the illness and how to treat it. They also run outpatient clinics for HIV, tuberculosis and travel-related infections, and take part in public health outbreak responses. Unlike clinical microbiologists, they work with patients rather than in the laboratory, though the two groups often sit in the same department and share cases.
How much do infectious diseases physicians earn?
The median full-time salary for an infectious diseases physician is $202,800 per annum, before tax, up $43,100 since 2018.
Specialist pay in public hospitals is set by state and territory health awards and enterprise agreements, so it varies with where you work and your level as a staff specialist. On-call and after-hours work lifts it further, and some physicians take on private consulting sessions alongside a hospital appointment.
What does an infectious diseases physician do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Assessing patients with complex or difficult to treat infections, usually at the request of another medical team
- Reviewing antimicrobial therapy on ward rounds and advising whether it should be narrowed, changed or stopped
- Running outpatient clinics for HIV, tuberculosis and other long-term infections
- Leading infection prevention and control work, including screening and outbreak investigation with public health units
- Teaching and supervising medical students, registrars and junior doctors
What skills do infectious diseases physicians need?
Employers look for clinical assessment and treatment, patient care and support, medication management, backed by Epic fluency and strong written communication.
Specialist skills
- Clinical assessment and treatment
- Patient care and support
- Medication management
- Infection control and hygiene
- Health education and advice
Software and tools
- Epic
- Cerner Millennium
- eMIMS
- Antimicrobial stewardship software
- Telehealth platforms
General skills
- Written communication
- Problem solving
Is the job growing?
About 780 people work as infectious diseases physicians in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 12% over the decade to 2035. That's healthy, above-average growth, and the role should stay in solid demand.
How do you become an infectious diseases physician?
Here's the path most infectious diseases physicians take, step by step.
- 1Complete an accredited medical degree
A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery or a Doctor of Medicine takes five to six years, and entry is competitive, either from school or after a first degree depending on the university.
- 2Work as an intern and resident medical officer
Two prevocational years rotate you through general medicine, emergency and surgery, and you apply to AHPRA for general registration once your internship is complete.
- 3Finish basic physician training
Three years of basic training with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, ending in written and clinical examinations, is the gateway to any adult medicine specialty.
- 4Complete advanced training in infectious diseases
Advanced training usually runs for about three years across hospital consultation services, outpatient clinics and, in many programs, a microbiology or public health term. You are paid as a registrar throughout.
- 5Add further study if you want a research or public health career
Many physicians complete a PhD, a Master of Public Health or dual training in clinical microbiology, which opens laboratory, research and health department roles alongside clinical work.
Ready to apply as an infectious diseases physician?
Whether you're working toward becoming an infectious diseases physician or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can an infectious diseases physician move to?
We don't list lateral moves for infectious diseases physicians: leaving means a full new qualification rather than a career move, and the realistic routes in are covered under how to become one.
Who works as an infectious diseases physician?
The typical infectious diseases physician is 45 years old; 54% are men, 78% work full-time, and full-timers average 44 hours a week.
- 45
- Median age
- 46%
- Female share
- 78%
- Full-time
- +4h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being an infectious diseases physician?
The week runs on consultations: ward rounds where you advise on someone else's patient, outpatient clinics, and a phone that can ring about an outbreak at any hour. The pace is slower than emergency medicine but the thinking is dense, and a good part of the job is explaining a complicated picture to a team that has to act on it. It suits doctors who enjoy diagnosis, microbiology and public health more than procedures.
What people like
- Diagnoses other teams have missed. Patients arrive after weeks of inconclusive tests, and working through the travel history, exposures and imaging to find the cause is the part many physicians find most satisfying.
- Antibiotic decisions that change a course. Advising a team to stop or narrow therapy can turn a patient's progress around, and it reduces resistance pressure across the ward.
- Long-term relationships in clinic. HIV and tuberculosis clinics mean seeing the same people over years and working through treatment, adherence and side effects together.
- Breadth across the hospital. Intensive care, oncology, surgery and maternity all call on you, so the work touches nearly every specialty rather than sitting in one corner of it.
What people find hard
- Delivering unwelcome advice. The answer is often that antibiotics should stop or that infection is not the problem, and saying so to a team keen to act is a recurring part of the job.
- Outbreak work on someone else's schedule. Public health calls can come at night or on a weekend, and contact tracing and ward screening have to be organised quickly.
- Waiting on results. Cultures and molecular tests take hours to days, so decisions are often made before the picture is complete.
- A long apprenticeship. Around eight years of training follow medical school, with exams and moves between hospital terms along the way.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ infectious diseases physicians?
Hospitals (public and private) employs the largest share of infectious diseases physicians, followed by Specialist medical services.
Top employing industries
- 1Hospitals (public and private)
- 2Specialist medical services
- 3Pathology and diagnostic services
- 4University and medical research
- 5Government health administration
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Bachelor degree | 52% | |
|---|---|---|
| Postgraduate | 26% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 13% | |
| Other | 9% |
Will AI replace infectious diseases physicians?
This is a low-exposure role. The core of the job is meeting a patient, working out whether an infection is present at all, and agreeing a plan with the team that is treating them, and AI tools do not do any of that. Where the technology does reach in, it is in the surrounding work: antimicrobial stewardship software flags therapy that may need review, sepsis alerts fire from the hospital record, and genomic tools speed up outbreak analysis. Those tools change how quickly patterns are spotted, not who examines the patient or makes the call.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Bedside assessment of complex infectionsTaking the history, examining the patient and deciding with the treating team whether this is an infection at all depends on information that is not in any system.35%low
- Outpatient clinics for HIV, tuberculosis and other long-term infectionsYears of follow-up, adherence conversations and side-effect management happen in person or by telehealth, and the relationship is the treatment as much as the prescription.25%low
- Antimicrobial stewardship reviewsStewardship software already flags broad-spectrum therapy and dose problems across the ward list, and AI is extending that to suggesting narrower options once culture results return.20%high
- Outbreak investigation and surveillance reportingPublic health units increasingly use automated outbreak detection and genomic analysis, which speeds up pattern finding but still leaves the field work and the decisions to the clinician.20%moderate
Common questions about becoming an infectious diseases physician
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do infectious diseases physicians earn?
The median full-time pay for an infectious diseases physician is $202,800 per year before tax. What you earn depends on the state or territory health service you work for, your seniority as a staff specialist and how much on-call and after-hours work you take on.
How do you become an infectious diseases physician?
You complete an accredited medical degree, then two prevocational years as an intern and resident medical officer, followed by three years of basic physician training with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Advanced training in infectious diseases adds roughly three more years, and you are paid as a registrar for all of it.
Are infectious diseases physicians in demand?
Infectious diseases physicians are currently in shortage nationally, and employment is projected to grow 12% over the decade to 2035. About 780 people work in the role nationally, so openings are few in absolute terms and usually sit in hospital infectious diseases departments or public health units.
How much of this job could AI take over?
Most of the work is rated as low exposure because it happens beside the patient and in conversation with the treating team. AI already helps around the edges, with stewardship software that flags therapy which may no longer be needed and genomic tools that speed up outbreak analysis. What it does not do is examine the patient or judge how an infection fits with everything else going on for them.
What do you do before specialising in infectious diseases?
Most people enter the specialty from a resident medical officer role, having finished general hospital years and basic physician training. That shared foundation is why the move works, because those years build the acute care experience that advanced training then focuses on, and consultant pay is $98,800 more than a resident medical officer's.
Do you need a PhD or extra qualifications?
No, advanced training with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians is what qualifies you to work as a consultant. Many physicians still add a research degree or dual training in clinical microbiology, which helps for academic appointments, public health roles and laboratory-facing work.
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