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The differences between health program specialists and clinicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a health program specialist, becoming a clinician takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a clinician has an average salary of $60,150, which is higher than the $48,114 average annual salary of a health program specialist.
The top three skills for a health program specialist include health education, data collection and patients. The most important skills for a clinician are social work, patients, and patient care.
| Health Program Specialist | Clinician | |
| Yearly salary | $48,114 | $60,150 |
| Hourly rate | $23.13 | $28.92 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 114,825 | 105,023 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A health program specialist is in charge of planning and developing health programs in communities or facilities. Their responsibilities include performing research and analysis to identify client needs, gathering and analyzing data, spearheading different activities that promote healthy lifestyles, assessing existing programs to determine areas needing improvement, and coordinating with health care experts. Furthermore, as a health program specialist, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while adhering to the vision and mission of the organization or community.
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.
Health program specialists and clinicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Health Program Specialist | Clinician | |
| Average salary | $48,114 | $60,150 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $69,000 | Between $34,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Rafael, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Nevada |
| Best paying company | Apple | Pace University |
| Best paying industry | Government | - |
There are a few differences between a health program specialist and a clinician in terms of educational background:
| Health Program Specialist | Clinician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between health program specialists' and clinicians' demographics:
| Health Program Specialist | Clinician | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 30.6% Female, 69.4% | Male, 24.3% Female, 75.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 5.7% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 15% |