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Family specialist vs family physician

The differences between family specialists and family physicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a family specialist and a family physician. Additionally, a family physician has an average salary of $215,471, which is higher than the $40,115 average annual salary of a family specialist.

The top three skills for a family specialist include social work, foster care and substance abuse. The most important skills for a family physician are patients, family medicine, and primary care.

Family specialist vs family physician overview

Family SpecialistFamily Physician
Yearly salary$40,115$215,471
Hourly rate$19.29$103.59
Growth rate9%7%
Number of jobs81,14847,352
Job satisfaction2-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Doctoral Degree, 36%
Average age4248
Years of experience44

What does a family specialist do?

A Family Specialist performs social work for families in need. They are focused on helping individuals and families to improve their lives.

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.

Family specialist vs family physician salary

Family specialists and family physicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Family SpecialistFamily Physician
Average salary$40,115$215,471
Salary rangeBetween $31,000 And $51,000Between $135,000 And $342,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WAMount Vernon, WA
Highest paying stateWashingtonVermont
Best paying companyBrigham and Women's HospitalOregon Medical Group
Best paying industryTechnologyHealth Care

Differences between family specialist and family physician education

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

Family SpecialistFamily Physician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Doctoral Degree, 36%
Most common majorPsychologyMedicine
Most common collegeSUNY at AlbanyUniversity of Virginia

Family specialist vs family physician demographics

Here are the differences between family specialists' and family physicians' demographics:

Family SpecialistFamily Physician
Average age4248
Gender ratioMale, 32.4% Female, 67.6%Male, 42.2% Female, 57.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 13.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 2.7% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%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%
LGBT Percentage10%13%

Differences between family specialist and family physician duties and responsibilities

Family specialist example responsibilities.

  • Help children/youth in state custody achieve permanency whether through reintegration, adoption or custodianship.
  • Complete family assessments and supervise visit documentation for family DHS worker and also for court hearing purposes.
  • Co-Facilitate state require GPS: MAPP training for prospective adoptive parents.
  • Do MAPP trainings with potential foster and adoptive parents to assist them to make an inform decision.
  • Assess the families' capacity to protect their children, and ensure compliance with the DHS safety plan.
  • Develop deep trust and credibility through empathy, integrity, compassion and consistently providing sound advice and helpful support.
  • Show more

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.

Family specialist vs family physician skills

Common family specialist skills
  • Social Work, 22%
  • Foster Care, 11%
  • Substance Abuse, 7%
  • Crisis Intervention, 7%
  • Child Abuse, 6%
  • Community Resources, 5%
Common family physician skills
  • Patients, 28%
  • Family Medicine, 26%
  • Primary Care, 15%
  • Urgent Care, 8%
  • EMR, 7%
  • Internal Medicine, 3%

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