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Family specialist vs general practitioner

The differences between family specialists and general practitioners 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 general practitioner. Additionally, a general practitioner has an average salary of $172,831, 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 general practitioner are patients, diagnosis, and internal medicine.

Family specialist vs general practitioner overview

Family SpecialistGeneral Practitioner
Yearly salary$40,115$172,831
Hourly rate$19.29$83.09
Growth rate9%7%
Number of jobs81,14864,698
Job satisfaction2-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Doctoral Degree, 50%
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 general practitioner do?

A General Practitioner provides primary and continuing medical care for patients within their community. They are responsible for diagnosing patients, checking patients results, and providing treatment as required.

Family specialist vs general practitioner salary

Family specialists and general practitioners have different pay scales, as shown below.

Family SpecialistGeneral Practitioner
Average salary$40,115$172,831
Salary rangeBetween $31,000 And $51,000Between $85,000 And $347,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WAOklahoma City, OK
Highest paying stateWashingtonMississippi
Best paying companyBrigham and Women's HospitalAltru Health System
Best paying industryTechnologyHealth Care

Differences between family specialist and general practitioner education

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

Family SpecialistGeneral Practitioner
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Doctoral Degree, 50%
Most common majorPsychologyMedicine
Most common collegeSUNY at AlbanyDuke University

Family specialist vs general practitioner demographics

Here are the differences between family specialists' and general practitioners' demographics:

Family SpecialistGeneral Practitioner
Average age4248
Gender ratioMale, 32.4% Female, 67.6%Male, 60.9% Female, 39.1%
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, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage10%13%

Differences between family specialist and general practitioner 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

General practitioner example responsibilities.

  • Shadow and note specific medical cases as well as participated in patient diagnosis and treatment plan discussions
  • Evaluate a variety of medical conditions and afflictions, including making comprehensive diagnosis and specifying treatment plans.
  • Serve as initial contact to hospital patients; conduct thorough patient assessments and coordinate referrals to appropriate physicians base on findings
  • Assist in major elective and emergency surgeries such as appendectomies, exploratory laparotomy, thyroid surgery, hysterectomy and cesarean operations.
  • Collect and dispatch blood samples according to national malaria eradication and sputum samples for national tuberculosis control program.

Family specialist vs general practitioner skills

Common family specialist skills
  • Social Work, 22%
  • Foster Care, 11%
  • Substance Abuse, 7%
  • Crisis Intervention, 7%
  • Child Abuse, 6%
  • Community Resources, 5%
Common general practitioner skills
  • Patients, 32%
  • Diagnosis, 7%
  • Internal Medicine, 6%
  • Outpatient Clinic, 5%
  • Emergency Room, 5%
  • Oral Surgery, 4%

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