Primary care physician vs specialist

The differences between primary care physicians and specialists 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 specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a primary care physician has an average salary of $214,843, which is higher than the $58,013 average annual salary of a specialist.

The top three skills for a primary care physician include patients, internal medicine and family practice. The most important skills for a specialist are patients, customer service, and work ethic.

Primary care physician vs specialist overview

	Primary Care Physician	Specialist
Yearly salary	$214,843	$58,013
Hourly rate	$103.29	$27.89
Growth rate	7%	10%
Number of jobs	130,606	358,433
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	48	42
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 specialist do?

Specialists are employees who are responsible for specific tasks or activities in the department they are assigned to. The actions or tasks they work on are related to their educational background or work experiences. They are usually highly skilled in specializations related to the work they are assigned to. Specialists are also highly trained on the competencies that are required of their specialty. As such, they are focused on the skills and competencies that are needed to enhance their experience in their specific field further.

Primary care physician vs specialist salary

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

	Primary Care Physician	Specialist
Average salary	$214,843	$58,013
Salary range	Between $134,000 And $344,000	Between $32,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Jersey City, NJ
Highest paying state	North Dakota	New Jersey
Best paying company	Alameda Health System	The Citadel
Best paying industry	Insurance	-

Differences between primary care physician and specialist education

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

	Primary Care Physician	Specialist
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Medicine	Business
Most common college	Duke University	Stanford University

Primary care physician vs specialist demographics

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

	Primary Care Physician	Specialist
Average age	48	42
Gender ratio	Male, 49.4% Female, 50.6%	Male, 47.5% Female, 52.5%
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, 11.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	13%	11%

Differences between primary care physician and specialist 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.

Specialist example responsibilities.

Create, manage, and assist users with SharePoint sites.
Manage an on-site IRB and company good clinical practice (GCP) inspection.
Manage SharePoint sites by creating, editing, and customizing company sites, libraries and security.
Manage the building of accounts, assigning of static IP's, and scheduling of business class installations.
Convert servers from UNIX to Linux, all hardware diagnostics and repair including printers/plotters/desktops etc.
Follow safety procedures such as maintenance of all equipment (Telxon scanners, terminals and ladders).

Primary care physician vs specialist skills

Common primary care physician skills

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

Common specialist skills

Patients, 15%
Customer Service, 11%
Work Ethic, 5%
Patient Care, 4%
Exceptional Client, 4%
Troubleshoot, 4%

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Primary Care Physician
Primary Care Physician vs Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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