Family physician vs nurse practitioner

The differences between family physicians and nurse practitioners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a family physician, becoming a nurse practitioner takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a family physician has an average salary of $215,471, which is higher than the $100,033 average annual salary of a nurse practitioner.

The top three skills for a family physician include patients, family medicine and primary care. The most important skills for a nurse practitioner are patients, diagnosis, and home health.

Family physician vs nurse practitioner overview

	Family Physician	Nurse Practitioner
Yearly salary	$215,471	$100,033
Hourly rate	$103.59	$48.09
Growth rate	7%	40%
Number of jobs	47,352	27,912
Job satisfaction	-	2.67
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 36%	Master's Degree, 47%
Average age	48	43
Years of experience	4	2

What does a family physician do?

A family physician specializes in providing health care services to an entire family, regardless of age, health condition, or gender. Aside from conducting regular check-ups and consultations, they serve as a family's primary contact when health problems occur. Among their responsibilities include maintaining a family's health records, helping families navigate through the healthcare system, coordinating with insurance companies, and referring them to other specialists when necessary. Moreover, a family physician builds positive relationships with clients, helping them feel comfortable every step of the way.

What does a nurse practitioner do?

A nurse practitioner's role is diverse. It revolves around supervising nurses in a particular area and providing immediate care and treatment to patients through extensive knowledge and clinical experience. Among the duties of a nurse practitioner involves diagnosing and treating medical conditions, performing research and analysis through various tests, evaluating data and results, operating different kinds of medical equipment, and gathering samples from patients. Furthermore, a nurse practitioner must maintain an active line of communication and coordination among fellow health workers in a hospital or clinic.

Family physician vs nurse practitioner salary

Family physicians and nurse practitioners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Family Physician	Nurse Practitioner
Average salary	$215,471	$100,033
Salary range	Between $135,000 And $342,000	Between $62,000 And $161,000
Highest paying City	Mount Vernon, WA	Richmond, CA
Highest paying state	Vermont	California
Best paying company	Oregon Medical Group	Pace University
Best paying industry	Health Care	-

Differences between family physician and nurse practitioner education

There are a few differences between a family physician and a nurse practitioner in terms of educational background:

	Family Physician	Nurse Practitioner
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 36%	Master's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Medicine	Nursing
Most common college	University of Virginia	Duke University

Family physician vs nurse practitioner demographics

Here are the differences between family physicians' and nurse practitioners' demographics:

	Family Physician	Nurse Practitioner
Average age	48	43
Gender ratio	Male, 42.2% Female, 57.8%	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 19.1% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 6.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 77.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	13%	12%

Differences between family physician and nurse practitioner duties and responsibilities

Family physician example responsibilities.

Manage complicated and often difficult to control chronic medical conditions in patients with limit resources.
Examine patients, using medical instruments and equipment; elicit and record information about patient's medical history.
Perform hematology, chemistry and immunology screen test to provide immediate results for diagnosis.
Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service
Case, endotracheal intubation and artificial mechanical ventilation to which it require, bladder catheterizations rectal and nasogastric.

Nurse practitioner example responsibilities.

Manage care of chronic pediatric patients in PICU.
Assess, diagnose and medically manage patients with various GI diseases and dysfunctions
Manage medical illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, thyroid conditions and asthma and other medical conditions.
Manage pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment of diabetes and provide prescriptions and education before discharge from the hospital.
Manage appropriate changes to individualize care plan to ensure cost and time efficacy in an outpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation office.
Document correctly the patients' information in electronic health record and observe HIPAA.

Family physician vs nurse practitioner skills

Common family physician skills

Patients, 28%
Family Medicine, 26%
Primary Care, 15%
Urgent Care, 8%
EMR, 7%
Internal Medicine, 3%

Common nurse practitioner skills

Patients, 29%
Diagnosis, 7%
Home Health, 5%
Diagnostic Tests, 5%
Acute Care, 3%
EMR, 3%

Family Physician vs. similar jobs

Family Physician related careers

Family Physician related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Family Physician
Family Physician vs Nurse Practitioner

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse healthcare practitioner and technical jobs