Primary care physician vs nurse practitioner

The differences between primary care physicians and nurse practitioners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a primary care physician, becoming a nurse practitioner takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a primary care physician has an average salary of $214,843, which is higher than the $100,033 average annual salary of a nurse practitioner.

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

Primary care physician vs nurse practitioner overview

	Primary Care Physician	Nurse Practitioner
Yearly salary	$214,843	$100,033
Hourly rate	$103.29	$48.09
Growth rate	7%	40%
Number of jobs	130,606	27,912
Job satisfaction	-	2.67
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 40%	Master's Degree, 47%
Average age	48	43
Years of experience	4	2

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 nurse practitioner do?

A nurse practitioner's role is diverse. It revolves around supervising nurses in a particular area and providing immediate care and treatment to patients through extensive knowledge and clinical experience. Among the duties of a nurse practitioner involves diagnosing and treating medical conditions, performing research and analysis through various tests, evaluating data and results, operating different kinds of medical equipment, and gathering samples from patients. Furthermore, a nurse practitioner must maintain an active line of communication and coordination among fellow health workers in a hospital or clinic.

Primary care physician vs nurse practitioner salary

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

	Primary Care Physician	Nurse Practitioner
Average salary	$214,843	$100,033
Salary range	Between $134,000 And $344,000	Between $62,000 And $161,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Richmond, CA
Highest paying state	North Dakota	California
Best paying company	Alameda Health System	Pace University
Best paying industry	Insurance	-

Differences between primary care physician and nurse practitioner education

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

	Primary Care Physician	Nurse Practitioner
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 40%	Master's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Medicine	Nursing
Most common college	Duke University	Duke University

Primary care physician vs nurse practitioner demographics

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

	Primary Care Physician	Nurse Practitioner
Average age	48	43
Gender ratio	Male, 49.4% Female, 50.6%	Male, 13.1% Female, 86.9%
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, 4.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 6.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 77.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	13%	12%

Differences between primary care physician and nurse 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.

Nurse practitioner example responsibilities.

Manage care of chronic pediatric patients in PICU.
Assess, diagnose and medically manage patients with various GI diseases and dysfunctions
Manage medical illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, thyroid conditions and asthma and other medical conditions.
Manage pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment of diabetes and provide prescriptions and education before discharge from the hospital.
Manage appropriate changes to individualize care plan to ensure cost and time efficacy in an outpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation office.
Document correctly the patients' information in electronic health record and observe HIPAA.

Primary care physician vs nurse practitioner skills

Common primary care physician skills

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

Common nurse practitioner skills

Patients, 29%
Diagnosis, 7%
Home Health, 5%
Diagnostic Tests, 5%
Acute Care, 3%
EMR, 3%

Primary Care Physician vs. similar jobs

Primary Care Physician related careers

Primary Care Physician related jobs

Primary Care Physician jobs by location

Zippia Careers
Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Primary Care Physician
Primary Care Physician vs Nurse Practitioner

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse healthcare practitioner and technical jobs