Family physician vs primary care provider

The differences between family physicians and primary care providers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a family physician has an average salary of $215,471, which is higher than the $35,422 average annual salary of a primary care provider.

The top three skills for a family physician include patients, family medicine and primary care. The most important skills for a primary care provider are patients, internal medicine, and family practice.

Family physician vs primary care provider overview

	Family Physician	Primary Care Provider
Yearly salary	$215,471	$35,422
Hourly rate	$103.59	$17.03
Growth rate	7%	36%
Number of jobs	47,352	103,863
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	4	-

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 primary care provider do?

Primary Care Providers, also known as general practitioners instead of specialists, are doctors trained to be the first point of contact for a patient entering the health care system. They diagnose, treat, and prevent a broad range of injuries and illnesses from allergies and colds to longer-term conditions such as Diabetes Mellitus. Their duties include performing lab tests to identify a condition, prescribing medications, checking for drug interactions, provide wound care, executing spirometry tests and electrocardiograms, and coordinating specialist care for your condition. A Primary Care Provider will also help create self-care plans prescribing a certain diet and recommending exercise routines.

Family physician vs primary care provider salary

Family physicians and primary care providers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Family Physician	Primary Care Provider
Average salary	$215,471	$35,422
Salary range	Between $135,000 And $342,000	Between $21,000 And $58,000
Highest paying City	Mount Vernon, WA	Santa Rosa, CA
Highest paying state	Vermont	Connecticut
Best paying company	Oregon Medical Group	AstraZeneca
Best paying industry	Health Care	-

Differences between family physician and primary care provider education

There are a few differences between a family physician and a primary care provider in terms of educational background:

	Family Physician	Primary Care Provider
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Most common major	Medicine	Nursing
Most common college	University of Virginia	-

Family physician vs primary care provider demographics

Here are the differences between family physicians' and primary care providers' demographics:

	Family Physician	Primary Care Provider
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 42.2% Female, 57.8%	Male, 26.8% Female, 73.2%
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, 10.7% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 9.7% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage	13%	7%

Differences between family physician and primary care provider 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.

Primary care provider example responsibilities.

Manage provider network to include verifying claims and benefits for healthcare providers/members and insurance companies.
Work alongside ABA therapists to continue to apply appropriate behavioral techniques.
Examine patients and carefully analyze test results and information gather during examinations to properly diagnose illnesses and diseases.
Used strong oral and written communications skills to develop and maintain effective relationships with patients, co-workers and international medical professionals.
Provide caring companionship to developmentally disabled/elderly residents.
Assist with toileting, including bedpans, urinals and commode chairs.

Family physician vs primary care provider skills

Common family physician skills

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

Common primary care provider skills

Patients, 31%
Internal Medicine, 13%
Family Practice, 12%
Patient Care, 11%
Urgent Care, 10%
NP, 4%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Family Physician
Family Physician vs Primary Care Provider

Updated January 8, 2025

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