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The differences between medical consultants and specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a medical consultant, becoming a specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a medical consultant has an average salary of $194,384, which is higher than the $58,013 average annual salary of a specialist.
The top three skills for a medical consultant include patients, patient care and surgery. The most important skills for a specialist are patients, customer service, and work ethic.
| Medical Consultant | Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $194,384 | $58,013 |
| Hourly rate | $93.45 | $27.89 |
| Growth rate | 28% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 77,013 | 358,433 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 47 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
A medical consultant assists doctors and other medical staff in running a healthcare facility. They give advice on matters such as salaries, staffing, advertising, safety, patient confidentiality and insurance plan compliance. They are also responsible for gathering and analyzing data, coming up with conclusions, providing recommendations to the employer, helping the institution ensure they are compliant with insurance and safety standards, and offering advice that will help optimize the performance of the health facility.
Specialists are employees who are responsible for specific tasks or activities in the department they are assigned to. The actions or tasks they work on are related to their educational background or work experiences. They are usually highly skilled in specializations related to the work they are assigned to. Specialists are also highly trained on the competencies that are required of their specialty. As such, they are focused on the skills and competencies that are needed to enhance their experience in their specific field further.
Medical consultants and specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Consultant | Specialist | |
| Average salary | $194,384 | $58,013 |
| Salary range | Between $100,000 And $374,000 | Between $32,000 And $104,000 |
| Highest paying City | Chicago, IL | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Berkshire Hathaway | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | - |
There are a few differences between a medical consultant and a specialist in terms of educational background:
| Medical Consultant | Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between medical consultants' and specialists' demographics:
| Medical Consultant | Specialist | |
| Average age | 47 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.4% Female, 53.6% | Male, 47.5% Female, 52.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 8.0% White, 61.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 11% |