Family Medicine Physicians vs Physician Assistants
Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index
A factual, source-backed comparison of Family Medicine Physicians and Physician Assistants on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”
At a glance
| Dimension | Family Medicine Physicians | Physician Assistants |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $238,380 | $133,260 |
| Employment | 107,950 | 155,540 |
| Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection | About average (+2.7%) | Growing fast (+20.4%) |
| Annual openings · BLS projection | 3,300 | 12,000 |
| Typical education · O*NET | Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree). | Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree). |
| AI exposure · published exposure studies | Moderate · 56th pct | Low · 11th pct |
| Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk | — | 43rd pct · 23% of tasks |
| Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index | — | Augmentation-leaning (73.1%) |
| Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman | — | No |
Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.
Skills
Shared: Medicine and Dentistry, Problem Sensitivity, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, English Language, Therapy and Counseling, Psychology, Biology, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Written Comprehension, Deductive Reasoning, Writing, Speaking, Inductive Reasoning, Active Learning, Monitoring, Complex Problem Solving, Judgment and Decision Making, Time Management, Written Expression, Speech Clarity, Science, Social Perceptiveness, Service Orientation, Near Vision, Speech Recognition, Customer and Personal Service, Computers and Electronics, Mathematics, Information Ordering, Flexibility of Closure, Education and Training, Sociology and Anthropology, Coordination.
Specific to Family Medicine Physicians
- Instructing
- Learning Strategies
- Selective Attention
- Fluency of Ideas
Specific to Physician Assistants
- Chemistry
- Category Flexibility
- Persuasion
- Systems Evaluation
Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).
Tools & technology
Shared: Medical software , Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Internet browser software .
Specific to Family Medicine Physicians
Specific to Physician Assistants
Full profiles
This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Family Medicine Physicians or Physician Assistants — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.
More comparisons
Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.
- Family Medicine Physicians vs Emergency Medicine Physicians
- Family Medicine Physicians vs Pediatricians, General
- Family Medicine Physicians vs General Internal Medicine Physicians
- Family Medicine Physicians vs Obstetricians and Gynecologists
- Family Medicine Physicians vs Pediatric Surgeons
- Family Medicine Physicians vs Psychiatrists
- Family Medicine Physicians vs Cardiologists
- Family Medicine Physicians vs Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Family Medicine Physicians vs Physician Assistants." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/family-medicine-physicians-vs-physician-assistants
Singulariki. (2026). Family Medicine Physicians vs Physician Assistants. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/family-medicine-physicians-vs-physician-assistants
@misc{singulariki-family-medicine-physicians-vs-physician-assistants,
title = {Family Medicine Physicians vs Physician Assistants},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/compare/family-medicine-physicians-vs-physician-assistants}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.