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The differences between clinicians and psychiatric social workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a clinician, becoming a psychiatric social worker takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a clinician has an average salary of $60,150, which is higher than the $59,144 average annual salary of a psychiatric social worker.
The top three skills for a clinician include social work, patients and patient care. The most important skills for a psychiatric social worker are social work, patients, and crisis intervention.
| Clinician | Psychiatric Social Worker | |
| Yearly salary | $60,150 | $59,144 |
| Hourly rate | $28.92 | $28.43 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 105,023 | 57,284 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Master's Degree, 51% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 2 |
A clinician specializes in providing diagnosis, treatment, and direct care to patients with different illnesses. A clinician's duties mainly revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis, providing medical care through various therapies, and improving one's overall health condition. Furthermore, a clinician must obtain and analyze a patient's complete medical history, provide diagnostic tests, always monitor the effects of treatment on a patient, provide prognosis and consider the overall impact on a patient's health and well-being.
A psychiatric social worker specializes in providing mental health treatments and other services to patients and their families, referring them to other agencies and programs as needed. They conduct assessments and interviews to determine the condition of patients, devise specific treatment and care plans, update and maintain patient records, conduct regular counseling sessions, and monitor the progress of every patient to ensure their health and welfare. They may also provide interventions, train junior psychiatric social workers, and conduct reviews and evaluations on existing care plans.
Clinicians and psychiatric social workers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Clinician | Psychiatric Social Worker | |
| Average salary | $60,150 | $59,144 |
| Salary range | Between $34,000 And $103,000 | Between $43,000 And $79,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | California |
| Best paying company | Pace University | Highmark |
| Best paying industry | - | Government |
There are a few differences between a clinician and a psychiatric social worker in terms of educational background:
| Clinician | Psychiatric Social Worker | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Master's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Social Work |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between clinicians' and psychiatric social workers' demographics:
| Clinician | Psychiatric Social Worker | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.3% Female, 75.7% | Male, 24.8% Female, 75.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 3.1% White, 74.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% | Black or African American, 19.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 3.3% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 15% | 13% |