Recent years have seen a shift in the approach to primary care in the United States. With the mounting physician shortage, we’re expected to see a deficiency of up to 120,000 physicians by 2030, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Amidst the ongoing mass shortage, primary care has been hit particularly hard.

In addition to seeking medical care from a physician who has earned a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, patients can also meet with nurse practitioners (NPs) for medical guidance, treatment, and care. But while NPs can perform many of the same duties as primary care physicians, there are a few distinct differences.

As an aspiring medical professional, you’re looking to gather all the details you can before you chart your path forward. When it comes to nurse practitioner vs doctor, be sure to keep the following in mind.

How are physicians and nurse practitioners similar?

Most people have at least a vague understanding of what working as a physician entails. While there’s a wide range of medical specialties MDs can pursue, the discussion about the similarities and differences between doctors and nurse practitioners is often centered on the provision of primary care.

An NP is a registered nurse (RN) with advanced training and education. NPs are highly trained nurses who can provide primary care services in various hospitals and medical offices. As with doctors, they can also be part of a specialty care team.

In addition to their qualifications to become an RN, NPs will also go on to earn a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree or a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree. The day-to-day responsibilities will vary depending on the setting or department in which you work, but typical nurse practitioner duties include the following:

• Manage a patient’s overall care
• Order, perform, and interpret lab work
• Maintain patient records
• Diagnose and treat acute or chronic conditions
• Educate patients and families

In some cases, NPs can also write prescriptions. However, there are a number of states in which they must be working under the supervision of a cooperating physician to do so. Specific information related to nurse practitioners’ prescriptive authority can be found on the American Medical Association (AMA) website.

NP vs. MD: What are the differences in positions?

While NPs receive more training than RNs, they don’t receive quite as much training as licensed physicians. Doctors can perform all of the duties listed above as well as maintain full prescriptive authority in their respective areas of practice and take on additional responsibilities that revolve around more complicated diagnoses, specialty care, and treatment.

The Primary Care Coalition notes, for example, that physicians are trained to provide complex differential diagnoses and treatment in cases that involve multiple symptoms and organ systems. It could be said that NPs focus on the impact of diagnosis, while doctors focus on the illness itself.

The difference between doctor and nurse practitioner duties is a result of the levels of education and training required to pursue each career path. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that NPs must obtain an RN license before pursuing an advanced nursing degree—either an MSN or a DNP.

Nurse practitioners will then receive certification through the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB)  or the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). All in all, the process to become a nurse practitioner can take anywhere from 5.5 to seven years.

Conversely, physicians will need to earn a bachelor’s degree before attending medical school, earning their MD, and pursuing licensure. This process also includes anywhere from three to nine years of internship, residency, and fellowship programs, depending on the specialty. Upon becoming licensed to practice, some MDs will also opt to obtain board certification. The journey to becoming a doctor takes about eleven years.

As skilled medical practitioners, both NPs and MDs are fairly compensated for their hard-earned expertise—but those years of additional training mean doctors will typically see higher wages. The BLS reports that the median annual salary for nurse practitioners was $120,680 in 2021, while physicians experienced a median annual salary of $255,110.

It’s also worth noting that nurse practitioner jobs are expected to rapidly increase in the coming years, with a projected 45 percent rate of growth by 2030. Physicians will see mild growth comparatively.

Chart your future as a medical professional

Both doctors and nurse practitioners serve important roles as primary care providers for patients across the country. While the training, duties, and eventual career outcomes may differ slightly, both professions contribute to the medical field in significant ways.

If you’re still wondering which medical career could be the right choice for you, see what practicing physicians have to say about their journeys into the medical field in our article “Is Being a Doctor Worth It? Physicians Tell All.”