Pharmacist vs physician

The differences between pharmacists and physicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a physician has an average salary of $238,887, which is higher than the $118,968 average annual salary of a pharmacist.

The top three skills for a pharmacist include patients, customer service and employee development. The most important skills for a physician are patients, surgery, and patient care.

Pharmacist vs physician overview

	Pharmacist	Physician
Yearly salary	$118,968	$238,887
Hourly rate	$57.20	$114.85
Growth rate	2%	7%
Number of jobs	50,943	46,489
Job satisfaction	3.67	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 35%
Average age	42	48
Years of experience	-	4

What does a pharmacist do?

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.

What does a physician do?

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.

Pharmacist vs physician salary

Pharmacists and physicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Pharmacist	Physician
Average salary	$118,968	$238,887
Salary range	Between $93,000 And $151,000	Between $128,000 And $442,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	Cleveland, TN
Highest paying state	California	Wisconsin
Best paying company	Safeway	Yuma Regional Medical Center
Best paying industry	Retail	Health Care

Differences between pharmacist and physician education

There are a few differences between a pharmacist and a physician in terms of educational background:

	Pharmacist	Physician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 35%
Most common major	Pharmacy	Medicine
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	Duke University

Pharmacist vs physician demographics

Here are the differences between pharmacists' and physicians' demographics:

	Pharmacist	Physician
Average age	42	48
Gender ratio	Male, 43.2% Female, 56.8%	Male, 39.0% Female, 61.0%
Race ratio	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%	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	11%	13%

Differences between pharmacist and physician duties and responsibilities

Pharmacist example responsibilities.

Perform diabetes interviews along with physician collaboration agreement to manage therapy and optimal goals.
Dose and manage all Vancomycin and Aminoglycoside antibiotics throughout the entire hospital including overseeing, evaluating, and ordering antibiotic labs.
Perform critical care and oncology medication therapy management reviews for all patients assign to both satellite pharmacies.
Assist with transition to new computer system pending start of permanent PIC.
Deliver approximately 20K prescriptions per day to patients through budgeting Dr. Andy Nguyen, Pharm.
Provide small-group formal educational presentations for cardiac rehabilitation patients.

Physician example responsibilities.

Manage catheters and dress wounds.
Maintain ACLS and BLS certifications.
Treat complicated oncology cases in ICU and emergency.
Schedule new, follow-up and diagnostic testing for cardiology patients.
Attend radiation oncology clinic for new patients beginning treatment as well as follow-ups for returning patients.
Schedule tests and procedures (including radiology, cardiology, and respiratory) utilizing the hospital and clinic computer systems.

Pharmacist vs physician skills

Common pharmacist skills

Patients, 22%
Customer Service, 11%
Employee Development, 8%
Allergies, 6%
Patient Care, 6%
Drug Therapy, 5%

Common physician skills

Patients, 22%
Surgery, 8%
Patient Care, 7%
Internal Medicine, 6%
Primary Care, 6%
EMR, 6%

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Pharmacist vs Physician

Updated January 8, 2025

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