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The differences between medical doctors and pharmacists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a medical doctor has an average salary of $181,967, which is higher than the $118,968 average annual salary of a pharmacist.
The top three skills for a medical doctor include patients, patient care and internal medicine. The most important skills for a pharmacist are patients, customer service, and employee development.
| Medical Doctor | Pharmacist | |
| Yearly salary | $181,967 | $118,968 |
| Hourly rate | $87.48 | $57.20 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 60,642 | 50,943 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3.67 |
| Most common degree | Doctoral Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Average age | 48 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
A Medical Doctor, also known as a physician, is a healthcare professional who diagnoses and treats patients from injuries and illnesses. As a Medical Doctor, your day-to-day duties will typically include assessing a patient's symptoms, prescribing and administering treatment to patients, and providing follow-up medical care to patients. You will be responsible for interpreting patients' laboratory results and referring them to other providers when needed. Also, you will need to work closely with other healthcare professionals and promote health education.
Pharmacists are medical experts who distribute prescribed medications and immunizations to individuals. They are responsible for ensuring the quality of medicines supplied to patients, which should be within the law and prescribing only what is suitable to the condition of the user and provide proper knowledge on how to take them and possible reactions or side effects that may occur. Pharmacists could work in all environments where medications are used, or medication therapy is appraised as part of patients' care plan but most commonly in hospitals, community-based setting, and health systems.
Medical doctors and pharmacists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Doctor | Pharmacist | |
| Average salary | $181,967 | $118,968 |
| Salary range | Between $95,000 And $347,000 | Between $93,000 And $151,000 |
| Highest paying City | Brownsville, TX | Sacramento, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | Pacific Medical Centers | Safeway |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | Retail |
There are a few differences between a medical doctor and a pharmacist in terms of educational background:
| Medical Doctor | Pharmacist | |
| Most common degree | Doctoral Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Medicine | Pharmacy |
| Most common college | Duke University | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor |
Here are the differences between medical doctors' and pharmacists' demographics:
| Medical Doctor | Pharmacist | |
| Average age | 48 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.9% Female, 53.1% | Male, 43.2% Female, 56.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 19.0% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 5.6% Asian, 20.9% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 11% |