Primary care physician vs family practitioner

The differences between primary care physicians and family practitioners 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 practitioner. Additionally, a primary care physician has an average salary of $214,843, which is higher than the $180,399 average annual salary of a family practitioner.

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

Primary care physician vs family practitioner overview

	Primary Care Physician	Family Practitioner
Yearly salary	$214,843	$180,399
Hourly rate	$103.29	$86.73
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	130,606	50,599
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
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 practitioner do?

Family practitioners are medical professionals who are responsible for providing care for an entire family in small and rural communities. By using their knowledge in the medical profession, these doctors are required to diagnose and treat a variety of medical issues while referring patients to an appropriate specialist if medical problems are outside their range of practice. They must participate in well-care visits with their patients to monitor the development of their health as well as perform routine tests such as cholesterol tests and blood pressure readings. Family practitioners must also help women give birth to a child.

Primary care physician vs family practitioner salary

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

	Primary Care Physician	Family Practitioner
Average salary	$214,843	$180,399
Salary range	Between $134,000 And $344,000	Between $90,000 And $359,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Philadelphia, PA
Highest paying state	North Dakota	Florida
Best paying company	Alameda Health System	PeaceHealth
Best paying industry	Insurance	Health Care

Differences between primary care physician and family practitioner education

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

	Primary Care Physician	Family Practitioner
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Most common major	Medicine	Medicine
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Primary care physician vs family practitioner demographics

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

	Primary Care Physician	Family Practitioner
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 49.4% Female, 50.6%	Male, 40.1% Female, 59.9%
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, 5.3% 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 primary care physician and family practitioner 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 practitioner example responsibilities.

Manage family health problems, examine patients, perform physical examination.
Manage conditions including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hypothyroidism, asthma, and GERD.
Provide examination, testing, diagnosis, treatment, referral and follow- up care for newborn through geriatrics.
Provide residential care and emergency medical treatment to incapacitate elderly patients
Operate electrocardiogram equipment to administer diagnostic testing (EKG).
Ensure patient and family understanding of diagnosis treatment and all accompanying relevant information.

Primary care physician vs family practitioner skills

Common primary care physician skills

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

Common family practitioner skills

Family Medicine, 32%
Patients, 25%
Family Practice, 12%
Internal Medicine, 8%
Urgent Care, 7%
Pediatrics, 6%

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Primary Care Physician
Primary Care Physician vs Family Practitioner

Updated January 8, 2025

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