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Physician-internist vs primary care physician

The differences between physician-internists and primary care 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 physician-internist and a primary care physician. Additionally, a primary care physician has an average salary of $214,843, which is higher than the $204,979 average annual salary of a physician-internist.

The top three skills for a physician-internist include urgent care, patient care and private practice. The most important skills for a primary care physician are patients, internal medicine, and family practice.

Physician-internist vs primary care physician overview

Physician-InternistPrimary Care Physician
Yearly salary$204,979$214,843
Hourly rate$98.55$103.29
Growth rate7%7%
Number of jobs38,382130,606
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeDoctoral Degree, 35%Doctoral Degree, 40%
Average age4848
Years of experience44

Physician-internist vs primary care physician salary

Physician-internists and primary care physicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Physician-InternistPrimary Care Physician
Average salary$204,979$214,843
Salary rangeBetween $103,000 And $407,000Between $134,000 And $344,000
Highest paying CitySumter, SCSeattle, WA
Highest paying stateNorth DakotaNorth Dakota
Best paying companyMemorial Hospital of Texas CountyAlameda Health System
Best paying industryHealth CareInsurance

Differences between physician-internist and primary care physician education

There are a few differences between a physician-internist and a primary care physician in terms of educational background:

Physician-InternistPrimary Care Physician
Most common degreeDoctoral Degree, 35%Doctoral Degree, 40%
Most common majorMedicineMedicine
Most common collegeUniversity of Michigan - Ann ArborDuke University

Physician-internist vs primary care physician demographics

Here are the differences between physician-internists' and primary care physicians' demographics:

Physician-InternistPrimary Care Physician
Average age4848
Gender ratioMale, 68.4% Female, 31.6%Male, 49.4% Female, 50.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.5% Asian, 20.4% White, 64.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 19.1% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage13%13%

Differences between physician-internist and primary care physician duties and responsibilities

Physician-internist example responsibilities.

  • Manage complicated and often difficult to control chronic medical conditions in patients with limit resources.
  • Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service
  • Collect and dispatch blood samples according to national malaria eradication and sputum samples for national tuberculosis control program.

Primary care physician example responsibilities.

  • Full spectrum of family medicine, including obstetrics, pediatrics and inpatient medicine.
  • Maintain renewal for physicians' licenses, DEA certificates, ACLS certifications and CME records.
  • Attend ICU patient care rounds with the medical team.
  • Display technical proficiency in using NaturaeSoft electronic medical record (EMR).
  • Provide on-site, immediate response for all hospital emergencies following ACLS protocols.
  • Enter prescriptions on computer, giving injections, filing charting information in patient chart.
    • Show more

Physician-internist vs primary care physician skills

Common physician-internist skills
  • Urgent Care, 57%
  • Patient Care, 19%
  • Private Practice, 9%
  • Medical Care, 5%
  • Diabetes, 4%
  • EKG, 2%
Common primary care physician skills
  • Patients, 25%
  • Internal Medicine, 14%
  • Family Practice, 11%
  • Urgent Care, 8%
  • Pediatrics, 7%
  • Patient Care, 6%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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