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The differences between physicians and assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a physician, becoming an assistant takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a physician has an average salary of $238,887, which is higher than the $37,363 average annual salary of an assistant.
The top three skills for a physician include patients, surgery and patient care. The most important skills for an assistant are patients, customer service, and patient care.
| Physician | Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $238,887 | $37,363 |
| Hourly rate | $114.85 | $17.96 |
| Growth rate | 7% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 46,489 | 557,900 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 48 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 2 |
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.
An assistant intern is responsible for facilitating administrative and clerical tasks as assigned by the management. Assistant interns' duties include keeping records of meetings, receiving calls and handling customer inquiries, assisting on writing reports and data entry processing, cooperating and providing support for business events, and adhering to company policies and regulatory procedures. Successful assistant interns must have excellent time-management, multi-tasking, and communication skills. They must be a team player and fast-learner to handle various tasks in the corporate industry.
Physicians and assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Physician | Assistant | |
| Average salary | $238,887 | $37,363 |
| Salary range | Between $128,000 And $442,000 | Between $16,000 And $82,000 |
| Highest paying City | Cleveland, TN | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Wisconsin | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Yuma Regional Medical Center | Latham & Watkins |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Education |
There are a few differences between a physician and an assistant in terms of educational background:
| Physician | Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Medicine | Business |
| Most common college | Duke University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between physicians' and assistants' demographics:
| Physician | Assistant | |
| Average age | 48 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 39.0% Female, 61.0% | Male, 40.7% Female, 59.3% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 6% |