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The differences between nuclear medicine physicians and physicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a nuclear medicine physician and a physician. Additionally, a physician has an average salary of $238,887, which is higher than the $204,752 average annual salary of a nuclear medicine physician.
The top three skills for a nuclear medicine physician include acls, nuclear medicine and thyroid. The most important skills for a physician are patients, surgery, and patient care.
| Nuclear Medicine Physician | Physician | |
| Yearly salary | $204,752 | $238,887 |
| Hourly rate | $98.44 | $114.85 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 7% |
| Number of jobs | 43,950 | 46,489 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Doctoral Degree, 38% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A nuclear medicine physician, also known as a nuclear radiologist, uses radioactive materials to diagnose and treat diseases. The process uses radiopharmaceuticals to take images of a patient's body. The duties of this position include diagnosis and therapy using radiopharmaceuticals, dealing with cancer patients, keeping up with updated safety standards associated with radioactive materials, and ensuring that the radioactive materials are handled within a controlled environment so as not to endanger those outside the created environment.
Physicians' general responsibility is to check, diagnose, and treat a patient's condition to improve their overall wellness. A physician could be General Practitioners or Specialist Physicians, wherein General Practitioners are physicians who provide regular checkups for patients depending on their needs and refer them to a Specialist Physicians who are more skilled in a particular field of expertise for a thorough diagnosis. Physicians monitor a patient's medical history and ensure follow-up checkups to observe if the condition of a patient is changing over time. A physician may refer a patient to other health professionals for further examination as needed.
Nuclear medicine physicians and physicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Nuclear Medicine Physician | Physician | |
| Average salary | $204,752 | $238,887 |
| Salary range | Between $100,000 And $417,000 | Between $128,000 And $442,000 |
| Highest paying City | Montgomery, AL | Cleveland, TN |
| Highest paying state | Minnesota | Wisconsin |
| Best paying company | Wellstar Health System | Yuma Regional Medical Center |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a nuclear medicine physician and a physician in terms of educational background:
| Nuclear Medicine Physician | Physician | |
| Most common degree | Doctoral Degree, 38% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Most common major | Medicine | Medicine |
| Most common college | Texas A&M University | Duke University |
Here are the differences between nuclear medicine physicians' and physicians' demographics:
| Nuclear Medicine Physician | Physician | |
| Average age | 48 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 63.2% Female, 36.8% | Male, 39.0% Female, 61.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.4% Asian, 19.9% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | 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 Percentage | 13% | 13% |