Primary care physician vs family practice doctor

The differences between primary care physicians and family practice 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 primary care physician and a family practice doctor. Additionally, a primary care physician has an average salary of $214,843, which is higher than the $187,028 average annual salary of a family practice doctor.

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

Primary care physician vs family practice doctor overview

	Primary Care Physician	Family Practice Doctor
Yearly salary	$214,843	$187,028
Hourly rate	$103.29	$89.92
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	130,606	32,979
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 40%	Doctoral Degree, 35%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	4	4

What does a primary care physician do?

A Primary Care Physician is responsible for providing regular medical care for their patients. They provide personal assistance, medical attention, and emotional support to others, such as coworkers, customers, and patients.

What does a family practice doctor do?

Family practice doctors provide lifelong care for a patient and their family. They offer medical attention to all family members, educates patients on disease prevention, provide health maintenance, and ensure mental and emotional needs are met. They manage basic complaints, like colds or flus, and also treat chronic illnesses, like asthma, diabetes, or degenerative conditions. They provide ongoing personalized care. Doctors must be empathetic, professional, and knowledgeable.

Primary care physician vs family practice doctor salary

Primary care physicians and family practice doctors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Primary Care Physician	Family Practice Doctor
Average salary	$214,843	$187,028
Salary range	Between $134,000 And $344,000	Between $101,000 And $345,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	-
Highest paying state	North Dakota	-
Best paying company	Alameda Health System	-
Best paying industry	Insurance	-

Differences between primary care physician and family practice doctor education

There are a few differences between a primary care physician and a family practice doctor in terms of educational background:

	Primary Care Physician	Family Practice Doctor
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 40%	Doctoral Degree, 35%
Most common major	Medicine	Medicine
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Primary care physician vs family practice doctor demographics

Here are the differences between primary care physicians' and family practice doctors' demographics:

	Primary Care Physician	Family Practice Doctor
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 49.4% Female, 50.6%	Male, 34.2% Female, 65.8%
Race ratio	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%	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 Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between primary care physician and family practice doctor duties and responsibilities

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.

Family practice doctor example responsibilities.

Manage conditions including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hypothyroidism, asthma, and GERD.
Provide patients with a clinical diagnosis and provide appropriate follow-up evaluation, with referrals to clinical specialists when deem necessary.
Set up appointments.Billing and coding for emergency procedures (EKG).
Interpret diagnosis results and help in treatment of acute, chronic illnesses.
Advise patients about appropriate lifestyle modifications, preventative medicine, and recommend health screenings.
Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service

Primary care physician vs family practice doctor skills

Common primary care physician skills

Patients, 25%
Internal Medicine, 14%
Family Practice, 11%
Urgent Care, 8%
Pediatrics, 7%
Patient Care, 6%

Common family practice doctor skills

Patients, 34%
Family Medicine, 21%
Urgent Care, 8%
Patient Care, 7%
Internal Medicine, 5%
Outpatient Clinic, 3%

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Primary Care Physician
Primary Care Physician vs Family Practice Doctor

Updated January 8, 2025

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