An emergency physician is a doctor who is an expert in handling conditions of an urgent and extremely dangerous nature. These specialists work in the emergency room (ER) departments of hospitals where they oversee cases involving cardiac distress, trauma, fractures, lacerations and other acute conditions.
Emergency physicians are specially trained to make urgent life-saving decisions to treat patients during an emergency medical crisis. These doctors diagnose and stabilize patients before they are either well enough to be discharged, or transferred to the appropriate department for long-term care.

Hospitalists are physicians who specialize in the care of patients in the hospital. The majority of hospitalists are board-certified internists and have completed the same training as other internal medicine doctors including medical school, residency and board certification examination.
Hospitalist activities include patient care, teaching, research, and leadership related to hospital care. They have more expertise in caring for complicated hospitalized patients on a daily basis since, unlike other specialists or primary care doctors, they spend most of their day in the hospital.
They often coordinate the care of their patients and act as the central point of communication among the different doctors and nurses involved in the patient's care. They are also the main physician for family members to contact for updates on a loved one.

A physiatrist is a doctor who specializes in the rehabilitation and physiological treatment of patients with an illness or injury that affects movement.
These specialists have extensive knowledge of the nerves, muscles, bone, and brain. Physiatrists are also experts in pain medication.
Some common conditions that physiatrists treat are rheumatoid arthritis, neurological and spinal disorders and injuries, chronic pain disorders, like fibromyalgia, and musculoskeletal issues, like broken bones and torn muscles.
These physicians also often coordinate a team of other specialists in order to maximize the patient's recovery, such as occupational therapists, speech therapists, neurologists, orthopedists, and counselors.

A family practitioner is a doctor who specializes in caring for people of all ages, at all stages of life. Rather than focusing on the treatment of one disease or patient population, family practitioners are often the doctors that people see for their everyday ailments, like cold and flu or respiratory infections, and health screenings. When necessary, family practitioners will provide referrals for conditions that require the expertise of another specialist.
The doctors may also provide physicals, inoculations, prenatal care, treat chronic diseases, like diabetes and asthma, and provide advice on disease prevention.