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Sanford Health
Bismarck, North Dakota

Physician - Emergency Medicine

Emergency MedicineFull-Time

Listed compensation

$425k–$500k

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about the work setting, call expectations, weekend coverage and time off.

Posted 1h ago · Verified live

Job Description

Sanford Health, the largest rural health system in the United States, is dedicated to transforming the health care experience and providing access to world-class health care in America’s heartland.

  • Visas Accepted
  • N/A
  • Specialty
  • Emergency Medicine

Practice Details

Sanford Medical Center is seeking a Board Certified/Board Eligible Emergency Medicine physician to join a well-established team of 16 residency trained Emergency physicians.

  • Level II Trauma Center
  • 30 bed department
  • 38,000 annual patient volume
  • 13-15 shifts per month/8-9 hour shifts
  • 49 hours of physician coverage per day
  • Full sub-specialty call, pediatric and adult hospitalist programs
  • High quality ultrasound and video laryngoscope

About Sanford Health

Sanford Health, the largest rural health system in the United States, is dedicated to transforming the health care experience and providing access to world-class health care in America’s heartland.

Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the organization has 53,000 employees and serves over 2 million patients and nearly 425,000 health plan members across the upper Midwest including South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Iowa, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The integrated nonprofit health system includes a network of 56 hospitals, 288 clinic locations, 147 senior care communities, 4,000 physicians and advanced practice providers and nearly 1,500 active clinical trials and studies.

The organization’s transformational virtual care initiative brings patients closer to care with access to 78 specialties.

About Sanford Health Western North Dakota

With locations in Bismarck, Dickinson, Mandan, Minot, Williston, and Watford City, the west region proudly serves an area that spans more than 83,000 square miles and stretches into three states. In Bismarck, the Sanford Medical Center is the region’s home for health care – and has a Level II Trauma and Stroke Center.

  • 250+ Physicians and 210+ APPs

Community Description

Life in Bismarck

As the capital city of North Dakota, Bismarck is truly one of a kind. The city offers picturesque landscapes and farmland, a fast-growing community of more than 125,000 and economic diversity. Centrally located in the state, Bismarck borders the east side of the Missouri River and has a neighborhood full of friendly people.

Job Description

Emergency Medicine Core Privileges include the ability to assess, evaluate, diagnose, perform history and physical examinations and provide initial treatment to patients of all age groups, who present to the emergency department with any symptom, illness, injury, or condition.

Qualifications

M.D. or D.O. degree.

Experience can be demonstrated in one of the following ways and should be reflective of the privileges being requested: An applicant who has just completed a residency provides his/her residency log.

OR An applicant who is not applying directly out of a residency shall provide a quality profile from hospital(s) where he/she currently has privileges showing his/her clinical activity for the past 12 months, including numbers of procedures performed morbidity, mortality, infection rates, and other complications.

The applicant must be able to demonstrate active practice in the emergency department in the past 12 months with a census equal to or exceeding 3,000 patient visits annually.

OR If a quality profile is not available from the hospital(s) where the applicant currently has privileges, documentation of the applicant’s hospital-based clinical activity for the past 12 months is required and must show that applicant has practiced in an emergency department that had a census equal to or exceeding 3,000 visits annually. More education and experience may be required the more advanced the practice becomes.

Successful completion of an Emergency Medicine residency program accredited by the ACGME, the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) or the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada.

Training at residency programs accredited by organizations other than the above, may be considered via the waiver of eligibility process as defined in the Credentialing Policy.

Certification in the primary area of practice by the appropriate specialty/ subspecialty board of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, as applicable.

Those applicants who are not board certified at the time of application but who have completed their residency training within the last five years shall be eligible, however must achieve board certification within five years from the date of completion of their residency training unless the appropriate governing Board waives such requirement.

(Refer to each entity’s policy for grandfather exceptions) Privileging documents and related credentialing requirements will supersede this job description in defining minimum qualifications, criteria, and scope of practice, if variation between documents exists.

Compensation

Sanford Health offers a nationally competitive compensation plan with an additional physician benefits package including health, dental and vision insurance, 401K plan, short-term and long-term disability, life insurance, CME allowance, malpractice insurance and tail coverage, and a relocation allowance.

Competitive Compensation Package Includes

  • Compensation floor of $425,000 for the first two years of the employment contract, plus estimated potential to exceed compensation floor from personally performed wRVUs.
  • In addition, a $100,000 retention incentive to be paid if you remain a 1.0 FTE for 3 years (this will be subject to a contractual agreement specifying all details)
  • Estimated potential to exceed compensation floor from personally performed wRVUs. Based on data from last 3 years, estimated that members in the group have the ability to earn an average of $500,000 from personally performed wRVUs after practice is established

Recruiter Information

Courtney Foelker, Physician Recruiter Phone: +1 (701) 3232084 or Email: courtney.foelker@sanfordhealth.org

Sanford is an EEO/AA Employer M/F/Disability/Vet. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request an accommodation for help with your online application, please call 1-877-673-0854 or send an email to talent@sanfordhealth.org.

Key Responsibilities

The physician will assess, evaluate, diagnose, and provide initial treatment to patients of all ages presenting to the emergency department. Responsibilities include performing history and physical examinations and managing various symptoms, illnesses, and injuries.

Qualifications

Experience
5+ years of experience

Key Skills

Trauma carePatient assessmentDiagnosisClinical documentationCritical care

Emergency Medicine — Physician Career Context

Of the 40 active Emergency Medicine listings this role was benchmarked against, 90% have no call, 70% require no weekends.

For production-based offers, this specialty runs a typical 15,609 wRVUs per year (derived from CMS CPT-frequency data), and WeekdayDoc listings compensate a median of about $58 per wRVU — implying roughly $905k in production-based pay. For reference, the 2026 CMS Medicare conversion factor is $33.40 per RVU.

Top Emergency Medicine Jobs

35 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution35 jobs · 7 employers

4
$300k
25
$345k-390k
1
$415k
2
$478k
3
$480k+

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks34 jobs · 7 employers

401k / retirement match
88% this job
CME allowance
15% this job
Sign-on bonus
6% this job
Loan repayment
3%
Relocation assistance
3% this job

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

Physician - Emergency Medicine

Med America · Sacramento, California

$275k-$900k
#2

SENTARA NORTHERN VIRGINIA MEDICAL CENTER - EM - STAFF PHYSICIANContract

Team Health · Woodbridge, Virginia

$238-$278/hr
#3

VIRTUA MARLTON HOSPITAL - EM - STAFF PHYSICIAN

$220-$240/hr
#4

SISTERS OF CHARITY HOSPITAL - EM - STAFF PHYSICIAN

$225-$230/hr
+ 33 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 1.5this job 1.5
Better work-life than 50% of Emergency Medicine listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 1,041 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

Living in Bismarck

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$340k≈ 0.8× annual pay
Typical market rent
$1,306/mo≈ 4% of gross pay
Residents’ average commute
16 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
91.0
State income tax
Up to 2.9%
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · Bismarck, ND metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

Ratios use this listing’s gross annual pay. Not a cost-of-living guarantee.

Sanford Health logo

About Sanford Health

Hospitals and Health Care
Sioux Falls, SD
10,000+ employees

Benefits & Perks

Health, dental and vision insurance
401K plan
Short-term and long-term disability
Life insurance
CME allowance
Malpractice insurance and tail coverage
Relocation allowance
$100,000 retention incentive (3-year commitment)