14 Physician Side Gigs to Accelerate Your Income

Learn what side hustles are available to you as a physician to supplement and increase your earnings

Learn which physician side gigs can help you supplement your income

Introduction

The road to becoming a physician is a long and difficult one. Four years of medical school, several years of residency and fellowship, high tuition costs, and student loan debt with unfavorable interest rates can make it tough to fully enjoy the field you dreamed about as a kid and college student.

On top of that, a number of physicians mention the sometimes repetitive nature of their work. This isn’t limited to surgeons who perform routine operations. Even emergency medicine physicians, who see everyone who comes through their doors with every issue under the sun, sometimes wonder how they are going to complete shifts for the next 10, 20, or 30 years.

Is your primary work as a physician all there is to your professional career? Is your earning potential capped by the income your chosen specialty commands?

Neither of these have to be true. Physician side gigs can allow you to earn more while diversifying your work and satisfying your non-clinical curiosities. Moreover, side hustles aren’t necessarily overly time-consuming. They can range from a few hours per week to a half-time job. In other words, you can enjoy tons of flexibility in the type and amount of work you pursue on the side.

This guide covers 14 of the more common physician side hustles, including links to associated opportunities. While non-exhaustive, this list will help generate ideas for building multiple streams of income while pursuing work that interests you and allows you to exercise other areas of your mind.

List of Physician Side Gigs

• MCAT tutoring: As a lifelong learner, tutoring affords you the opportunity to share your knowledge with other students on the journey to becoming a physician. You can work as an MCAT tutor by either working for an established test prep company or on your own (more on that below). In addition to working as a tutor for these companies, you may also be able to serve as a campus rep by promoting their materials across universities. An alternative to working for a test prep company is tutoring independently for which details are included below. 

• United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) tutoring: In addition to tutoring for the MCAT, you can also apply your teaching skills to helping medical students prepare for their USMLE Step examinations. Examples of companies that hire tutors for the USMLE Step examinations include USMLE Pro, Med School Tutors, and Elite Medical Prep. You can find the applications for each of these companies here: USMLE Pro, Med School Tutors, and Elite Medical Prep. An alternative to working for a test prep company is tutoring independently for which details are included below. 

• Independent tutoring: Rather than working for a test prep company, you may prefer to independently tutor students based on your own hourly rate. To effectively do so, you can create an account on a tutoring platform that details your qualifications and allows students to reach out directly to you for your services. Examples of platforms on which you can post your tutoring profile include wyzant.com, varsitytutors.com, and universitytutor.com. 

• Medical school admissions consulting: Consider working for an admissions counseling company to provide guidance to the thousands of applicants who are applying to medical school. Although it is possible to independently advise students, it is more feasible to reach students through established, well-reputed companies. These companies typically allow you to take on as many students you would be willing to help coach depending on your own availability and schedule which allows for flexible work hours. 

• Medical writing: Industry companies are often looking for individuals fluent in medical language to help write brief summaries or reports on medical topics. There are a large variety of opportunities in medical writing which range from health journalism, marketing, and wellness blogging. Opportunities to work as a freelance medical writing can be found on upwork.com and freelancer.com. You can also join the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) to learn more about opportunities in medical writing and to build your network. 

• Test preparation company writing: Medical students spend months preparing for the USMLE examinations by utilizing a variety of question bank sources. As a physician who has successfully passed the USMLE, you have the opportunity to write for these test preparation companies and contribute to their question banks. Examples of companies that generate their own USMLE practice questions include Pastest Inc., AMBOSS, and Firecracker. These jobs may be remote which affords you the opportunity to work from the comfort of your own home in your free time. 

• Life or career coaching: You can translate your love for helping patients to a passion for helping others by serving as a life or career coach. There are a variety of accreditations you can achieve to increase your credibility in the space. The International Coach Federation is a platform that both delivers coaching training and connects trained coaches with interested clients. 

• Electronic medical record (EMR) training: Hospital systems often hire physicians adept at using EMR to assist with the implementation of a new EMR. Although this venture would require you to be in-person, it is a short-term commitment that leverages skills that you already have. You can find opportunities to assist with EMR training at MedDocLive. 

• Medical moonlighting: As physicians you may have the opportunity to work extra shifts at a higher, hourly rate. For resident physicians, the feasibility will depend on the parameters of your training program. Fully licensed physicians can find opportunities either within their home institution or at neighboring local hospitals. 

• Medical survey completion: You can sign-up to complete various medically related surveys in your free time for a discrete payment. This allows you to generate extra cash in your free time and at your convenience. You can sign up for survey panels at the following platforms: GLG Research, M3 Global Research, and Survey Squad. 

• Chart reviewing: Chart reviewing involves leveraging your clinical acumen to drive insights about various metrics in medicine such as length of stay, diagnostics, or treatments. You may be hired by an insurance company, hospital system, or an industry company. A host of opportunities to work in chart reviewing can be found on the National Association of Independent Review Organizations website. 

• Serve as an expert witness: You can be connected with a lawyer to serve as an expert medical witness in relevant litigation cases. Medical expert witnesses are often established physicians in their careers. You can apply to be a medical expert witness through companies such as American Medical Experts. 

• Serve as a healthcare consultant: You can join an expert network platform to be connected to various industry businesses including management consulting firms, healthcare startups, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies who are looking for physicians to interview to apply clinical insights to business strategy. Examples of expert network platforms include GLG counsulting and Guidepoint Global Advisors. 

• Work for a healthcare startup: If you are interested in the business side of medicine, you may look at positions at healthcare startups or biotechnology companies that are geared towards individuals with a clinical background. Examples of positions can include medical director, executive board member, or freelance consultant. The best way to find these opportunities is to first locate which startups exist in your region.