Medical specialist vs primary care representative

The differences between medical specialists and primary care representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a medical specialist, becoming a primary care representative takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a primary care representative has an average salary of $187,913, which is higher than the $40,277 average annual salary of a medical specialist.

The top three skills for a medical specialist include patients, customer service and patient care. The most important skills for a primary care representative are product knowledge, cardiology, and patients.

Medical specialist vs primary care representative overview

	Medical Specialist	Primary Care Representative
Yearly salary	$40,277	$187,913
Hourly rate	$19.36	$90.34
Growth rate	16%	4%
Number of jobs	68,607	232,440
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 87%
Average age	37	47
Years of experience	12	2

Medical specialist vs primary care representative salary

Medical specialists and primary care representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Specialist	Primary Care Representative
Average salary	$40,277	$187,913
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $75,000	Between $97,000 And $363,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	-
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	-
Best paying company	Adobe	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between medical specialist and primary care representative education

There are a few differences between a medical specialist and a primary care representative in terms of educational background:

	Medical Specialist	Primary Care Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 87%
Most common major	Nursing	Business
Most common college	-	University of Pennsylvania

Medical specialist vs primary care representative demographics

Here are the differences between medical specialists' and primary care representatives' demographics:

	Medical Specialist	Primary Care Representative
Average age	37	47
Gender ratio	Male, 42.6% Female, 57.4%	Male, 50.1% Female, 49.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 9.0% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between medical specialist and primary care representative duties and responsibilities

Medical specialist example responsibilities.

Administer first aid, medication, emergency medical treatment, CPR, triage, and evacuation procedures.
Provide tactical medical instruction and services in emergency medical care of patients in austere and complex, out-of-hospital environments.
Provide mass casualty triage support, including administering emergency treatment, stabilizing patients, and routing them to appropriate medical facilities.
Provide wound care, sutures, injections, and CPR as needed.
Take vitals, = collecting co-pays, appt scheduling, radiology scheduling, triage, etc.
Operate equipment such as: electrocardiograms (EKGs), external defibrillators, and bag-valve mask resuscitators in advance life-support environments.

Primary care representative example responsibilities.

Collaborate with primary care physicians and manage key product promotions-Cymbalta, Axiron, Cialis and Strattera.
Achieve sales growth objectives by incorporating product/technical knowledge, teamwork, customer and multi-product focus, innovation and creativity.
Promote in-line products to cardiologists, rheumatologists, orthopedic surgeons, psychiatrists, and primary care physicians.
Execute sales and marketing of family medicine, cardiology, and endocrinology products.
Promote Microzide & Dilacor for hypertension to primary care.
Promote the company's allergy, asthma, and anti-infective franchise.

Medical specialist vs primary care representative skills

Common medical specialist skills

Patients, 21%
Customer Service, 8%
Patient Care, 7%
Utilization Management, 5%
Medical Management, 4%
Patient Education, 4%

Common primary care representative skills

Product Knowledge, 27%
Cardiology, 20%
Patients, 13%
Territory Management, 6%
Internal Medicine, 3%
Neurology, 3%

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Healthcare Support Industry
Medical Specialist
Medical Specialist vs Primary Care Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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