Physician vs medical doctor

The differences between physicians and medical doctors 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 and a medical doctor. Additionally, a physician has an average salary of $238,887, which is higher than the $181,967 average annual salary of a medical doctor.

The top three skills for a physician include patients, surgery and patient care. The most important skills for a medical doctor are patients, patient care, and internal medicine.

Physician vs medical doctor overview

	Physician	Medical Doctor
Yearly salary	$238,887	$181,967
Hourly rate	$114.85	$87.48
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	46,489	60,642
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 35%	Doctoral Degree, 56%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	4	4

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.

What does a medical doctor do?

A Medical Doctor, also known as a physician, is a healthcare professional who diagnoses and treats patients from injuries and illnesses. As a Medical Doctor, your day-to-day duties will typically include assessing a patient's symptoms, prescribing and administering treatment to patients, and providing follow-up medical care to patients. You will be responsible for interpreting patients' laboratory results and referring them to other providers when needed. Also, you will need to work closely with other healthcare professionals and promote health education.

Physician vs medical doctor salary

Physicians and medical doctors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Physician	Medical Doctor
Average salary	$238,887	$181,967
Salary range	Between $128,000 And $442,000	Between $95,000 And $347,000
Highest paying City	Cleveland, TN	Brownsville, TX
Highest paying state	Wisconsin	New Jersey
Best paying company	Yuma Regional Medical Center	Pacific Medical Centers
Best paying industry	Health Care	Transportation

Differences between physician and medical doctor education

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

	Physician	Medical Doctor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 35%	Doctoral Degree, 56%
Most common major	Medicine	Medicine
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Physician vs medical doctor demographics

Here are the differences between physicians' and medical doctors' demographics:

	Physician	Medical Doctor
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 39.0% Female, 61.0%	Male, 46.9% Female, 53.1%
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, 5.3% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 19.0% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between physician and medical doctor duties and responsibilities

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.

Medical doctor example responsibilities.

Partner with team to achieve overall well-being patients and contribute to successful department research accreditation.
Perform selection and interpretation of labs including EKG readings, diagnostic imaging, blood work, and urinalyses.
Batch to clearing house, upload files from insurance, data entry answer phones, collect payments over phone, EMR.
Examine patients, order laboratory test and other diagnostic procedures and follow up with acute and chronic diseases
Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service
Perform and interpret ECG test.

Physician vs medical doctor skills

Common physician skills

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

Common medical doctor skills

Patients, 30%
Patient Care, 9%
Internal Medicine, 7%
Primary Care, 7%
Diagnosis, 4%
Medical History, 4%

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Physician vs Medical Doctor

Updated January 8, 2025

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