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Resident vs program assistant

The differences between residents and program assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a resident and a program assistant. Additionally, a resident has an average salary of $60,589, which is higher than the $35,193 average annual salary of a program assistant.

The top three skills for a resident include home health, patients and rehabilitation. The most important skills for a program assistant are patients, customer service, and data entry.

Resident vs program assistant overview

ResidentProgram Assistant
Yearly salary$60,589$35,193
Hourly rate$29.13$16.92
Growth rate12%12%
Number of jobs14,18696,901
Job satisfaction-4
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 45%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age4343
Years of experience1212

What does a resident do?

A resident, often known as a resident physician, is a medical doctor who just graduated from medical school and pursued the residency program for further training. Residents work with health care team members to provide direct medical care by diagnosing medical problems and devising appropriate treatment plans. Depending on their medical specialty and training, residents may assist in performing surgeries to patients but are supervised by senior residents and physicians. Residents must also have an in-depth understanding of ethical, socioeconomic, and medical-legal issues surrounding patient care.

What does a program assistant do?

Program assistants are usually entry-level or junior employees assigned to a department that handles a specific program in the organization. They assist the team they are assigned to in the implementation of the programs. They usually take care of administrative or clerical activities while also getting exposure to actual program management. Program assistants get trained to handle agendas from inception, to sourcing, to implementation, to evaluation. They may also handle documentary support for business cases or other presentation materials that the team may need for a specific part of the program management cycle.

Resident vs program assistant salary

Residents and program assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

ResidentProgram Assistant
Average salary$60,589$35,193
Salary rangeBetween $44,000 And $83,000Between $27,000 And $45,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCWashington, DC
Highest paying stateNorth DakotaConnecticut
Best paying companyMetaThe Aspen Institute
Best paying industryNon ProfitsGovernment

Differences between resident and program assistant education

There are a few differences between a resident and a program assistant in terms of educational background:

ResidentProgram Assistant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 45%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common majorMedicineBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of VirginiaNorthwestern University

Resident vs program assistant demographics

Here are the differences between residents' and program assistants' demographics:

ResidentProgram Assistant
Average age4343
Gender ratioMale, 41.0% Female, 59.0%Male, 24.8% Female, 75.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 15.8% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Asian, 7.1% White, 51.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.6%Black or African American, 13.8% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 6.7% White, 53.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.2%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between resident and program assistant duties and responsibilities

Resident example responsibilities.

  • Manage pediatrics emergencies, indoor & outdoor patients, neonatal & intensive care units.
  • Document daily reports, administer medication, experience with first aid, CPR, and strategies for crisis intervention.
  • Perform full mouth surgical dental rehabilitation for mentally and physically disable patients (children and adults) under general anesthesia.
  • Work up surgical patient for surgery, under supervision.
  • Assist in LINAC and TPS commissioning with LandauerMP commissioning team.
  • Involve in commissioning of new skin HDR program using Valencia applicators.
  • Show more

Program assistant example responsibilities.

  • Lead classes in anatomy/physiology, medical terminology, transcription.
  • Manage oversight of budget/finance, personnel and continuous program improvement.
  • Assist in achieving and maintaining DoD certification and national accreditation where applicable.
  • Instruct students in C++ and Java programming, robot design and construction.
  • Introduce students to various computer pro- gramming languages (HTML, CSS, JavaScript).
  • Present information about RSVP to community organizations.
  • Show more

Resident vs program assistant skills

Common resident skills
  • Home Health, 20%
  • Patients, 15%
  • Rehabilitation, 13%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • CPR, 4%
  • Residency Program, 3%
Common program assistant skills
  • Patients, 12%
  • Customer Service, 9%
  • Data Entry, 8%
  • HR, 6%
  • Excellent Interpersonal, 6%
  • Data Collection, 4%

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