[Editor's Note: Today's WCI Network post comes from Passive Income, MD, and is his growing list of physician side hustles updated for 2020. I wrote a post a few weeks ago about how doctors should not feel like they have to have a side hustle, but if you want one, take a look at some of these! Feel free to submit your own ideas to add to his list in the comments section below.]
With the ever-changing state of medicine, the increasing burden of student loan debt, and the dissatisfaction and burnout that comes along with all of it, physicians seem to be searching for alternatives or other ways to make income.
Perhaps it’s to supplement/replace their current incomes or perhaps it’s a way to transition out of medicine altogether. Either way, the notion of the “side hustle” or “side gig” seems to be growing in acceptance amongst the physician community.
To qualify as a side hustle, it must be something that you can initially start while continuing your day job as a physician.
Why Even Have a Side Hustle?
(Related: 5 Reasons Why Doctors Should Have a Side Hustle)
- Make more money.
- Hedge against changes in medicine or your current job.
- Increases your bottom line to help you achieve financial independence quicker.
- Maybe it’s just something you’re passionate about and enjoy doing.
Is It Worth It?
At the end of the day, that’s a personal decision. You have to figure out whether it’s worth it to you after answering the following questions amongst many others:
- How much can you make?
- What’s your time worth?
- Should you just work more at your current day job?
- Will it help you create your ideal life?
- Is it something that you’re interested in and passionate about?
Ultimately I believe that side hustles start with having the right attitude. Your success will be predicated on your drive and determination, which, if you’ve made it this far in your medical career, you already have plenty of.
There might be obstacles you face while trying to pursue a side hustle as a physician, but it might be absolutely worth it.
In fact, NOW might be the perfect time to get started!
Without further ado, here’s my growing List of Physician Side Hustles (with some examples, ex, of doctors doing those very things):
Make Extra Money Using Your Medical Degree (Non-Clinical)
- Medical Consulting – McKinsey
- Retail Consulting – Advisor for retail/cosmetic company
- Physician Advisor – R1
- Telemedicine – American Telemedicine Association, MDlive, Doctor On Demand, HealthTap. I also wrote a review on a great course to get you started in telemedicine.
- Expert Witness – SEAK, American Medical Experts
- Chart/Utilization Review – SEAK, Dane Street, Advanced Medical Reviews
- Pharm / Clinical Trials
- Review and offer opinions on medical cases – Best Doctors
- Medical Surveys – (For a complete list, check out our Paid Medical Surveys page)
- Review Health Insurance Claims – NAIRO
- Disability Insurance Evaluation – ABIME, IAIME
Clinical
- Locum Tenens – National Assoc. of Locum Tenens Org., Equal Access Health
- Pick up shifts at an urgent care center or start your own
- On Demand Doctor visits – Heal, Pager
- Concierge Doctor – SignatureMD
- Physicals for the military – MEPS
- Medical Review Officer – Drug & Alcohol Testing – AAMRO
- Medical Director – home health/hospice, infusion centers, IV hydration clinics
- Clinical Lab director
Educate Others
- Write a book – You can take a course like this to get started. Some examples of books by doctors: The House of God, Complications, Drug Dealer, MD
- Write an eBook – Self-publish
- Create an online course – Kajabi, Udemy, Teachable
- Create guides to help students with exams – ex. First Aid for the USMLE
- Create online quiz banks
- Teach at a university or medical school
- Tutoring
Real Estate Opportunities
- Invest in direct ownership of rental property – Single Family, Multifamily (Apartments)
- Invest in Crowdfunding Real Estate – CrowdStreet, EquityMultiple. (Check out our list of the Best Real Estate Crowdfunding Sites.)
- Invest in Syndications
- Invest in Private Equity Real Estate Funds
- Learn how to invest in Syndications & Funds by joining the Passive Real Estate Academy.*
- Rent out your own home – Airbnb
- Invest in Tax Liens
- Get your real estate license
Businesses
- Purchase a franchise
- Start a multi-level marketing business
- Start a Locum Tenens company
Online Businesses
- Start a Blog – How to start a Blog.
- Affiliate Marketing – Amazon Affiliates, CJ Affiliate, Affiliate Marketing Course
- Sell items on Etsy or eBay
- Direct to consumer products – ex. L3O Soaps
- Create online store / dropshipping – Like this blogger, My Wife Quit Her Job
Patent / Invention
- Create invention & patent it, collect royalties, ex. BareEase
- Create an app – Can use BuildFire, iBuildApp. ex. CallSimplified
- Patent an idea for a Medical Device specifically
Investing in Companies
- Angel Investing – AngelList, Microventures
- Venture Capitalist – Work and consult for a venture capital firm that funds medical innovation – Artiman Ventures
Stock Market
- Invest in the stock market
- Day Trade
Writing
- Medical Writing – SEAK
- CME content writer
- Medical Journal Editor
Traditional Media / Online Media / Social Media
- Medical expert on air or radio – ex. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Dr. Kien Vuu
- Social Media Influencer – ex. Dr. Mike
- Podcasting – ex. 10 Podcasts Doctors Should Really Be Listening To
- YouTube & Video Blogging – ex. ZDoggMD
Public Speaking
- Pharmaceutical industry lecturer
- Paid guest lecturer at conferences
Aesthetics
- Start a Medi Spa
- Create your own skincare line – ex. MD Glam
Transportation
- Drive Uber or Lyft (Believe it or not, I've actually heard of some docs doing this.)
- Rent out ad space on car – Wrapify
- Rent out your car – Turo, Getaround
Coaching
- Athletes, Training, & Nutrition – ex. AthletesRX
- Weight Loss – ex. Dr. Katrina Ubell
- Health and Wellness
- Life / Business / Career – Life Coach School, Dr. Sunny Smith (Empowering Women Physicians)
- How to get into med school – Medical School Headquarters
- Just about anything and sites to get started on:
Lending
- Invest in peer-to-peer lending – Lending Club, Prosper
- Be a Hard Money Lender
Freelancing
Others
- Teach Yoga / Pilates
- Photography
- Other online surveys – Swagbucks, Survey Junkie
- Make money by referring student loan refinancing companies to your friends
Any that you’d like to add to the list of physician side hustles – your own, your colleague's, etc? Feel free to share below, or join the discussion on our Facebook, Forum, or Reddit Groups.
Wow…impressive list!
Can seem overwhelming to someone new to the idea of a side gig. It was for me when I first got introduced to the concept and ended up at Passive Income MD looking at this list. What I did was exactly what you recommended in the intro, think about what my goals were with a side gig (enhance my path to FI) and then find something that I was passionate about and would love to do regardless. That’s how I chose direct real estate investing and blogging.
The best side gigs maybe those where you can leverage your degree and pre existing knowledge rather than venture completely out of your lane. This is not to say there isn’t success with other kinds of side gigs- as the numerous examples prove, just that it takes more time to learn a new skill and not everyone makes money off it. I exclude real estate from this since, to me, it is another investment avenue rather than a side gig per se- unless you’re going for REPS and the like.
How is day trading still a part of this list? That’s a side hustle for the brokerage companies, not you.
Anyway, I won’t (or can’t) knock the list too much. I chose to start online surveys thanks to this list and have made a fair bit in my spare time doing that. I have also started investing in private equity real estate funds to diversify my portfolio.
I agree. Day trading is probably more likely to cost you money than make you money. Not to mention the fact that you’re contributing almost nothing to society doing it.
Not sure if medical survey was mentioned but I’ve had great success with zoomrx
Any trick to that? I’ve been signed up with them for like a year and have only gotten 1 survey.
International board certified lactation consultant IBCLC.
Great list. One I would add to “online businesses” that is very appropriate given the times we live in would be “online telehealth business.” Many doctors are now starting to work from home for online health care businesses. I decided to start my own company a few years back – though it has turned into more than a “side hustle.” IMO, us doctors have the potential to be excellent contributors in this digital care space (as long as we are committed to learning the business side of things.) I encourage others to give it a try. Whether you want to be a consultant/advisor, CMO, or CEO, there will be numerous opportunities in the coming months and years. Feel free to look me up on LinkedIn to chat further.
For the last eight years that I was in practice, I had an internet web site where I bought and sold luxury Swiss wristwatches. It was a fun hobby that grew into a lucrative business. The last couple of years, my income from that business exceeded the income from my surgical practice. I retired early and supported myself with the watch business for about another eight years. I did not touch my retirement plan until I had to take RMD’s.
Interesting business this one. Do you still run this business? what is the name of the business?
This is a great list . . . and I’m sure it could go on and on . Let me make a recommendation and ask a question: If a physician is looking for a way to set up side hustles, the revised version of “The 4-Hour Work Week” can stimulate ideas. Now a question/issue:
I am planning for a post retirement side hustle that would monetize my medical knowledge, expertise and experience BUT . . . not sure where the line is between active medical practice (needing a medical license) and medical business consultation (need a business license). As best as I can tell, medical licensure occurs at a state level and the definition of ‘medical practice’ is also determined state by state. If ‘medical practice’ is narrow such as diagnosing and treating a patient only that is one thing but if it is broad (or undefined or fuzzy in state statute) that is another thing.
Example: If a retired MD opens a business to consult to patients, family, other businesses, etc. and it involved rendering an opinion, what determines the boundaries and need for medical licensure?
If you’re seeing patients and providing them medical advice, I’d say you need a medical license. If you’re only giving advice to the doctor, then I don’t think it is needed.
I was wondering, if I made a website about tennis elbow and made commission via the Amazon affiliate link program by adding a link to a tennis elbow band, will I run into any issue (medical license risk, Stark Law)?
Probably not. You won’t make much money either though. 3% of a tennis elbow band isn’t much money even if you sell 1000 of them.
Hi WCI,
You have previously discussed how a rheumatologist from CSRO would charge Humira or other biologics for his infusion center on his credit card…my understanding is that using a credit card for purchasing large volume of drugs would lead to a 1-2% fee that they tack onto the drug. It seems like the cost the drug supplier would pass on would not be worth the points accrued unless you are a master at utilizing points to their fullest. Correct me if I’m wrong though!
I guess it depends on whether the supplier is passing that fee on to you or not.
Practice Tip #3: Do not undervalue access to your expertise. I find that almost all health professionals are well aware of the value of direct access to them and their expertise but also that hardly any are aware of, or take advantage of, the value of potential access to the same information. In fact, most of us make every effort to avoid the latter such as being on call. This type of thinking creates a ‘Practice Income Ceiling’ effect: You end up limited to only being able to bill for 1 person’s hours in the day. In my consultation work in ‘practice enhancement’, I encourage my peers to add parallel streams of income by arranging to be paid for being available.
Example(s): You can contract with attorneys, agencies, non-psych human service workers, etc. for being available to them via phone/txt/email. You can tailor the parameters to your own life style. It is not unusual for me to be enjoying a travel adventure while having the same or greater income than when in the office; there are many days when I do no work (get no calls) and still am paid significant fees. A specialty nitch in jury and client analysis and selection is one working example.
Note that the medical/legal risk of this style of practice is very low and you can ‘mix and match’ it with more traditional practice elements. You might be surprised how many (potential) payers there are out there that are more than happy to pay you for being there for phone consultation on short notice when the need arises.
Interesting. Thanks for sharing.
I have a whole list of Practice Profit Tips that I have developed and shared with peers and colleagues on a 1:1 basis over time. Now I’d like to expand that monetization via a web site. Do you or others have any suggestions on how to sell online consultation/content for a fee both as requested and as a subscription? I have not been able to identify the proper tools, software or service to set this up. Thanks in advance for any thoughts!
Coaching and online courses are frequently used to monetize online businesses. You won’t have any trouble figuring out how to do either of those. Courses are generally hosted at Kajabi (most popular) or Teachable (what we use.) Coaching is generally done directly by emailing back and forth or similar.
Good luck! Remember the hard part isn’t coming up with the content or delivering it. The hard part is marketing it well enough to get enough people to justify your time coming up with the content, delivering it, and marketing it.
Thank you for your helpful comment and advice, WCI. Much appreciated! I do not want to get locked into a ‘on the clock’ time commitment, and want users to be able to select content areas and ‘pay as they go’ on the site. A concern is that users can share the content without restriction. I’ll put your take to work and do some research on the topic. Keep up your good works!