By Dr. James M. Dahle, WCI Founder
It's a simple proposition. You have valuable knowledge and can always use a little extra money. Various companies want that knowledge and are willing to pay for it. Why not get the two parties together and make a deal that causes them both to be better off? You can take surveys for money. You can make money taking online surveys. Online surveys for cash. Got it?
Recommended Physician Survey Companies
So, which companies should you try out? Here are the five we recommend. Note that we have an affiliate relationship with each of these companies. If you sign up with them, we get paid a few bucks. Thank you for going through these links to support the mission of The White Coat Investor. You also sometimes get a special deal by going through these links that you can't get by going directly to the company.
#1 All Global Circle
The All Global Circle community is set up to provide a clear, easy, and efficient means of communication between the pharmaceutical industry, the research industry, and those professionals who are using new developments and end products on an ongoing daily basis. If All Global Circle can't get you a survey to take within 90 days, they'll pay you a loyalty bonus just for logging in and checking a couple of times per month. By signing up through these links, you'll get an extra $50 just for being a member of the WCI community. It generally pays within two weeks of survey completion.
Sign Up for All Global Circle today!
#2 Incrowd
InCrowd’s 5-10 minute MicroSurveys use a mobile-first approach, giving physicians an easy way to participate in paid research on diverse healthcare topics. It’s medical research designed for physician schedules. Incrowd will take people from all of these fields:
- Active Physician
- Nurse Practitioner (NP)
- Nurse (BSN, LPN, RN, CNA)
- Physician Assistant
- Hospital Administrator
- Psychology
- Optometry
- Pharmacists and Staff
- Managed Care
- Dentistry
- Practice Managers
- Dental Hygienists
- Medical Resident or Fellow
- Veterinarian
- Genetic Counselor
Incrowd pays via Paypal or Tango (gift cards). It pays for surveys every time your balance reaches $25 and for interviews within 24 hours.
Sign Up for Incrowd today!
#3 Curizon
Curizon, like most of these companies, primarily works with pharmaceutical companies to find the new “CUres” on the “hoRIZON.” Get it? It will work with all kinds of professionals including:
- Physicians
- Pharmacists
- Managed Care Professionals
- Nurses
- Dentists
- Nutritionists
- Eye Care Professionals
- Veterinarians
Curizon generally pays within 2-6 weeks of survey completion.
Sign Up for Curizon today!
#4 Zoom Rx
ZoomRx surveys are quick, easy and tailored to your specialty. If you need to step away for a second you can automatically pick up where you left off the next time you log in. You can choose PayPal as your payment method and get paid instantly. Or they offer payment by check.
Sign Up for Zoom Rx today!
#5 Opinion Site
Join OpinionSite to share your expert feedback on new products, patient treatment trends and issues impacting the everyday lives of healthcare professionals. Participate in a wide array of engaging surveys and interviews. Your personal information and privacy are fully protected at all times. Digital payment tools provide a quick and easy way to redeem the rewards you earn for participating in research. It takes less than 5 minutes to join and once your membership is approved they will begin matching you with the meaningful medical research that fits your interests, with invites being sent to your inbox whenever a new research opportunity matches your profile.
OpinionSite accepts:
Active Physician
Nurse Practitioner (NP)
Nurse (BSN, LPN, RN, CNA)
Physician Assistant
Hospital Administrator
Psychology
Optometry
Pharmacists and Staff
Managed Care
Dentistry
Practice Managers
Dental Hygienists
Medical Resident or Fellow
Veterinarian
Genetic Counselor
Technician, Technologist, and Imaging
OpinionSite accepts healthcare professionals in the US, Canada, UK, and EU.
Sign Up for Opinion Site Today!
#6 MD for Lives
This opportunity is for doctors, nurses and pharmacists (but no residents.) Plus those without NPI: Decision Makers- Directors, Managers, C-Suite Executives, Hospital Admins, Lab Admins, Optometrists, Payers, Healthcare Regulators, and Veterinarians. It's all on an app for both Android and iPhone, making it super convenient to do surveys on your phone during downtime. MD for Lives pays via Paypal, Amazon vouchers, or through edX or Coursera, and it pays monthly. Surveys pay $50-$500. If you sign up via these WCI links, you'll get a $20 sign-up bonus.
Sign Up for MD for Lives today!
Why Doctors Should Take Paid Surveys
Why would someone want to become a paid survey-taker? There are a fair number of reasons besides the obvious.
#1 Take Surveys for Money
A surprising number of doctors are looking for a side gig. Multiple streams of income are a good thing. Taking surveys isn't ever going to overtake your clinical practice as your main source of income, but you can make a surprising amount of money doing them as a physician, especially compared to non-physician online survey companies.
#2 Start a Business and Get a Solo 401(k)
Here's another big reason people want to do surveys. If you are an employee at your practice, one big advantage of taking surveys is that you get some self-employment (1099) income. Since you and your employer are completely unrelated employers, that means you can start an individual or solo 401(k). Yes, that's right, you can have more than one 401(k). Assuming you're maxing out the 401(k) at your main gig, you can contribute 20% of what you make doing surveys into the solo 401(k). You can also roll traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs into it, allowing you to do a Backdoor Roth IRA, at least if Congress continues to allow them after 2021. Be sure to treat the enterprise as a real business. Get an Employee Identification Number and a separate business bank account. Treat its finances separately from your own. Report the income and put any expenses on Schedule C and SE each year.
#3 Make a Difference
These companies really do want to know what you think, so much so that they're willing to pay you for your knowledge and opinion. This influences the products they come out with, how they market those products, and perhaps even what they charge for those products. Most of the time we're talking about medications here, but there are certainly surveys about other products.
#4 Learn About New Products
Let's not kid ourselves. These companies also want to get the word out about their new medications and other products, and they want to develop brand recognition. Why shouldn't you get paid for them to advertise to you? Plus, you'll be up to speed on the latest and greatest.
How Much Can You Make Taking Physician Online Surveys?
It depends on how many surveys you take, how much each survey pays, and how quickly you can take them. No matter how many companies you sign up for, you're not going to get enough surveys that you can spend all day just taking surveys. You have to take them as they come. But it's pretty easy to knock them out during some downtime during the day, while watching TV, while helping with homework in the evening, or while commuting on public transit.
The companies generally send you a check 4-6 weeks after the study or survey is complete. Hourly rates while actually taking the survey range from $60-$300 per hour, although most surveys won't take an hour. If you really make an effort at this, it would not be terribly difficult to make $1,000-$2,000 per month on surveys. In at least one case, WCI columnist Rikki Racela made $30,000 in a year by taking surveys. An extra $10,000-$20,000 might not be much for a super-efficient and busy plastic surgeon, but it's enough to move the needle for lots of doctors and it is life-changing money for a resident or fellow.
What About the Screen-Outs on Medical Surveys?
One of the biggest complaints of doctors who have tried surveys is that they often get five or 10 questions into the survey only to learn that they will not be paid to take it. They are “screened out.” This can be particularly annoying as it often feels like they already got your opinion and valuable advice just in the screen-out questions and didn't bother compensating you for it. There are a few ways to work around this.
#1 Play the Game
With some experience, you can often figure out what the company is looking for and make sure you screen in, rather than out. Obviously, you don't want to compromise your integrity for $100, but there is some gamesmanship here in the gray areas.
#2 Take a Lot of Surveys Knowing the Screen-Outs Will Happen
You can also view the screen-outs simply as part of the job. Even if you're screened out of 3/4 of the surveys, is it still worth your time? If so, then quit beating yourself up about screen-outs.
#3 Let Market Forces Adjust
These companies know that survey-takers hate being screened out. So they have an incentive to minimize the screen-outs, too. If one company screens you out more than the others, quit taking their surveys and take the ones from companies that don't screen you out. If not enough docs are willing to even try their surveys, it may force these companies to pay you something less than the full survey price when they screen you out. Some companies already do this outside the physician survey space, although they're only paying 5-25 cents for screenouts.
#4 Fill Out Your Profile Completely and Carefully
Many sites allow you to fill out a profile. They use this profile to decide which surveys to send you. The more completely you fill it out, the fewer surveys you will get but also the fewer screen-outs you will get. That means that a much higher percentage of the surveys you do take will go all the way.
#5 Take the Survey Soon
Most companies hiring a survey company only want a certain number of responses. There may be quotas for each type of group—50 emergency docs, 50 family docs, and 50 internists for instance. The sooner you take the survey, the more likely you are to get in before they get their required number of responses.
#6 Read Questions Thoroughly and Don't Rush
Believe it or not, there are people who just click through surveys as quickly as possible to try to get paid. Obviously, the data from those survey-takers is worthless. So the companies actually screen out people who go too fast. Especially if you miss a question such as, “The answer to this question is B. Please select B,” that has been specifically inserted to catch people doing that and screen them out. If the survey is supposed to take 20 minutes, don't finish it in two.
#7 Stick to Short Surveys
Shorter surveys tend to have fewer qualifying questions and may even pay more on an hourly basis.
Does Your Medical Specialty Matter for Online Surveys?
Unfortunately, yes. Years ago when I looked into doing surveys, I discovered that my opinion as an emergency doctor was worth dramatically less than that of an endocrinologist, rheumatologist, neurologist, or dermatologist. Why? Because my main prescriptions are on the Walmart $4 list. If you're prescribing $10,000+ a month biologics, your opinion is a whole lot more valuable than mine! Don't get me wrong, there are surveys for every specialty, but some definitely have an advantage.
What About the Sunshine Act?
Many doctors would prefer their names not appear in the public database of the Sunshine Act, which requires pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers to report all payments and gifts made to physicians. Payments to physicians for participating in pharmaceutical and medical device marketing research are typically made by research companies, instead of manufacturer-sponsors. Those payments are, in most cases, excluded from reporting under the Sunshine Act law.
Do I Have to Pay Taxes on Online Survey Income?
Yes, all earned income is taxable, even if the compensation comes via gift cards. The companies aren't required to send you and the IRS a tax form unless you earn $600+ in a year, but you're required to report it all as income.
Ready to Get Started Taking Surveys?
So, what should you do if you're serious about this? Should you form a company before doing medical surveys?
#1 Get an EIN
The first thing I would do is get an Employer Identification Number (EIN). You don't have to do so. You can simply use your own personal Social Security number. You'll automatically have a sole proprietorship and file a Schedule C for this new business. However, if you want to open a Solo 401(k) to shelter 20% of your survey income, you will need an EIN so you might as well get it now. It's fast and free from the IRS. Seriously, it's super easy. Like 30 seconds easy.
#2 Open a Business Bank Account and Paypal
Next, open a business bank account at your bank or credit union. Get a Paypal account, too, for your new business. Link them together. Route all income and expenses for this business through those accounts. You don't have to do this, but it will make your accounting MUCH easier at tax time.
#3 Sign-Up with All the Companies Above
Which company to sign up with? Sign up with all of them. Why not? It's free and easy. You can sign up with all five in less time than it takes to open a bank account. As time goes on, you will likely find you get more surveys from some than others. That's OK. No harm done. Be sure to use the WCI links above for special deals and to support our mission.
#4 Return and Give Feedback Below in the Comments
After you gain experience working with these companies, come back and tell your fellow white coat investors about it. Maybe you can inspire another doc to begin doing their own side hustle without having to actually spend much time doing it.
If you are already doing surveys, share your experience. Which companies do you like best and why? Which do you not like so much? What other companies should we add to the list? Which ones pay the most and the quickest? Which are least likely to screen you out? Comment below!
1) When does one have to make the contribution for the solo 401k by for 2021? Is it December 31, 2021 or April 15, 2022?
2) Is the solo 401K on the chopping block also with the new tax law?
3) When will we find out if the Backdoor Roth hsa been eliminated? I usually do it on Jan 2 and 3rd of each year…..so should I wait this year until the new tax law has been finalized?
Thanks!
Maha
Hey Maha
1. you actually have until April 15 tax day of next year to make your solo 401k contribution.
2. Luckily no I don’t think the solo 401(k) is on the chopping block with a new tax bill
3. I had the same question! My guess is will find out before the year is out. Hopefully the back door Roth is here to stay
1. Technically any employee contribution should be made by the end of the calendar year (there’s a little wiggle room) but you have until tax day to do employer contributions.
2. No.
3. Within the next 4 weeks. Probably before the Congressional Christmas break.
great summary Jim! I ‘ve been doing surveys ever since I became an attending. I actually tried doing them as a resident, but learned that if you’re a resident you’ll always get screened out as these companies want practicing docs for the most part. As a neurologist last year I made $30,000!!! well, technically after taxes only half of that, but still paid for my last trip to Turks and Caicos 🙂 As a neurologist there have been a plethora of MS drugs that these survey companies want my opinion on. I am not sure how long this gravy train of survey will last in my field but I’m riding it 🙂
I tried to get my wife who is anesthesia to make some more income with these surveys, but as an anesthesiologist these companies seem to want pain docs. She doesn’t do pain and is always screened out.
One annoying thing with some of these survey companies is that they might not offer a check or paypal but either amazon rewards, gift cards, or a debit card as payment. I end up having a drawer full of debit cards or over a thousand bucks in amazon money, would have rather had the cash to invest. Not a deal breaker for me but for some docs might not want to do surveys if payment is not check/paypal given the additional hassle. Also, some of the companies have a convenience fee to get paid as paypal, maybe a only a couple of bucks but kind of a lot if you’re doing a quick $20 survey.
Did your spouse find any luck with anesthesiology?
nope unfortunately not 🙁 so not really good to be a general anesthesiologist when trying to get income with surveys
Hi ! Could you name survey panels that you use to take surveys? Thank you.
Sure, some companies include opinionsite, m-panels, sermo, allglobal, M3, spherix, ZoomRx, impactrx, Atheneum,
CE Outcomes is a really great survey company, as well. They are small, so you won’t get a huge volume of surveys, but they tend to have very short screening sections and the surveys are interesting (eg, they have patient cases). You can sign up at https://www.ceoutcomes.com/healthcare-providers
I would like to follow these steps and have been looking for an easy side gig I can do from home. Do you need a business name to file for an EIN? Has anyone been successful with this enough to be able to claim at home business expenses if you have dedicated office space in your home? I would love to talk to someone who has done this already.
Not really.
Sure, but only if you use that space regularly and exclusively to do surveys, but that seems unlikely.
Had the same question. Considering forming a consulting LLC for surveys. I also tutor for board exams on the side, so I may be able to place both services under the LLC and claim at home business expenses. Is that reasonable?
Hey man, I don’t think you need to form and LLC given the lack of liability or chance of being sued when doing surveys. just using an EIN number is fine so you can contribute to the employER part of your solo401k. As for tutoring board exams and doing surveys I would argue they are the same business, using medical knowledge to make 1099 income which is not direct care of patients. You are also the same owner. so yeah man use the same 401k and make the home business deduction that you use for both jobs. I myself use the same EIN for some of the drug companies I speak for as well as surveys.
The test for home office is whether that space claimed is used regularly and exclusively for the business. If you can answer both of those yes, you can claim the home office deduction. You don’t need an LLC either.
I have signed up for half a dozen of these sites and not got a single survey to fill in a year… internal medicine and critical care. :'(
I would disagree with having “MD for Lives” on the list of “Best Companies”.
In my experience they have been terrible about making payment after I completed their survey, and their support center has been very unhelpful and obstructive when I tried to resolve the issue.
I will never do another survey for MD for Lives again.
Thanks for the feedback. Appreciate hearing your actual experience. Curious if it is a one-off or if others have had the same problem.
ha! I can’t even log into the site! it keeps saying my e-mail is already registered, but I don’t remember registering for the site. also wasn’t able to get through to customer service.
I’m a neurologist too- maybe they have a thing again neurologists!
He’s 100% correct. Their customer service is quite poor and they seem disinterested in helping to solve your problems. Payouts (if they arrive at all) typically take 2 months or more from the time you request it.
In addition to the sites above, I have had good results with Medscape, Opinionsite and SERMO.
100% a scam. Didn’t get paid for a survey and my account was deactivated when I contacted “customer service” about it.
Which company?
MD for lives, as others have said. Should NOT be on your list. The others are legit.
Thanks for the feedback.
I was also not able to register with MD4Lives. I was able to with the other four.
Agree with this. MDforLives is awful. Terrible website, registration process, and customer service. Definitely does not belong on the list with the others.
I agree. MDforLives is a scam. They never paid me after doing 4 surveys and one phone interview. This is not a legit company. Pl be aware
Question about the benefit of using small survey income to contribute to self employed 401k. I’ve never received a tax document from the survey companies at the end of the year, even though for some I’ve earned more than $600. Wouldn’t it make more financial sense to have the money as non-reported income that isn’t taxed and not contribute 20% to the self employed 401k? If you report it as income then contribute 20% to the self employed 401k, you’re still paying income tax on 80% of it. I’m only asking about the financial aspect – I understand that not reporting $600+ in survey income is technically illegal.
You’re talking about tax evasion. Just because it isn’t reported, doesn’t mean you don’t owe taxes on it! Want an even easier way to come out ahead? Don’t pay any taxes at all.
But if you want to talk about legal strategies, then an i401(k) is a pretty good one.
On the Paypal comment you made, is it important to have a “business” Paypal account specifically? I understand the recommendation to not use the same Paypal as your main personal account, but is there benefit to a second personal Paypal just for surveys vs a business Paypal account?
I’d keep your personal and business finances separate. Whether it has to be a “business” Paypal account depends on Paypal’s terms and conditions I suppose. Maybe you could use Paypal for business and Venmo for personal or something.
Do you know if MD for Lives is only accepted for Licenced attending physicians or if they allow residents as well? I am currently a Resident and I am having trouble signing up for that account, but I have been accepted for all others, I believe.
Not sure, possible though.
Thanks for sharing. I only can register for 3 out of 5. Unable to access Curizon and unable to register for MD life. I am a PGY1, maybe they don’t take residents.
How much can you contribute to a solo 401k if you do this and contribute max to employer 401k and IRA?
Hey man the employER contribution to your solo 401k should be around 20% of the 1099 income you have made, though the exact calculation is a little more nuanced. To calculate more exactly your employER contribution I usually add up all the 1099 income I made by waiting until around late February when all the 1099 forms from these survey companies come in, hand into my accountant and ask him what the employER contribution maximum is. If you are doing taxes yourself you can use an online calculator. Mike Piper from the Oblivious Investor has a good way you can google. This is including if you max out your employEE 401k at work. In terms of your IRA, you can still do the backdoor Roth IRA, and any money that you have right now in your IRA you can rollover into your solo 401k so you can do the backdoor Roth without the prorata rule screwing you.
20% of net self employed income.
Can you contribute to an individual 401k if you ultimately only get paid in gift cards and never receive a form 1099? Seems pretty shady to try to put 20% of your under-the-table Amazon rewards into a tax-protected retirement account.
hi Wes- yes, you can contribute to the solo 401k because guess what, you will (at least legally should on amount above $600) get a 1099. Whether you get paid in cash, amazon gift cards, or beanie babies, it’s still earned income. And the government will tax you on the amount of amazon gift cards you receive that is reported to them. don’t let the “gift” in gift card fool you! The survey company that I get paid a lot in amazon gift cards is called m-panels, and they send me a 1099 everytime, and I put about 20% of that in my solo 401k.
Per the anecdotes in the comments section, it seems the companies might not reliably send out tax documents, even if you are over the $600 threshold. What do you do if you have been making individual 401k contributions throughout the year on your Amazon “income”, but never receive a 1099? At least if they sent you a check, you could retain the pay stub as proof. But the paper trail on gifts cards I imagine is a little lacking.
You’re required to report the income and pay taxes on it whether they send a 1099 or not. I have lots of income I never get a 1099 for.
You certainly can’t put it in a retirement account if you don’t claim it on your taxes. Gift cards are a bit more gray though. If it is “de minimis” (meaning it’s one for which, considering its value and the frequency with which it is provided, is so small as to make accounting for it unreasonable or impractical.) Otherwise, you have to pay taxes on gift cards paid to you.
When reporting income from paid surveys on Schedule C, what business activity code should be used?
How about: 541900 Other professional, scientific, and technical services
or maybe: 621110 Offices of physicians.
I’d probably use the first. As near as I can tell, that’s not a particularly auditable entry on a tax return. They just use it for collecting data.
If I want to make a separate EIN for survey income purposes, as recommended above, and I already have an EIN (for paying our nanny), do I make a separate one or can I use the same?
thanks!
I’d use a separate one. It’s no big deal. Free and easy.
While creating EIN, on online application, question on details of new business activity, there is no option for survey , what should we use ?, closest I see is Healthcare . If I choose healthcare next question is on primary location of business, should I choose hospital since I work in hospital?
Click other, then other, then type it in.
Agree that MD for Lives is a scam. They will steal your time and not give you an honorarium. Please save your hard earned time and go to another company- they will not pay you. Please direct your physician elsewhere.
Is there any benefit in creating a LLC when registering the EIN? Or does that overcomplicate things?
hey Alex, no need to do an LLC (at least, I don’t). LLC would really be for more asset protection. I do not see any liability risks doing surveys 🙂
Agreed.
Hi, I recently found WCI after becoming a Boglehead convert last year. Love the site and the podcast.
Interesting post about medical professionals using their experience and expertise to monetize their opinions as a source of SE income. However, my online searches for survey companies seeking my professional expertise (tax, legal, finance) have been unsuccessful. (And maybe no one cares what I think! Haha.) Understanding that this post is intended for your core audience, are you aware of survey companies for other professionals (eg, finance, legal, etc)? It looks like even within the medical profession survey opportunities may be limited.
I’m not unfortunately. Keep in mind the most lucrative surveys are in fields where there are expensive medications or medical devices. Emergency docs can’t make much doing this either.
I don’t know how frequent/lucrative it is, but GLG research does surveys that are non-medical. It wouldn’t hurt to sign up and see what you get. I don’t really know how focused they are on finance/legal/etc. They do have stuff for non-medical “industry”.
Hi all,
Apologies if I’ve missed this in a previous article/comment, but wondering what all I could take advantage of with the i401K with only a small amount of survey income.
If my 1099 income is only just over $600 from surveys does it still make sense to go through opening the 401K for the ~$120 I could contribute as employER?
Can I contribute additional money as employEE if from my W2 job?
Could I roll over my workplace (W2) SIMPLE IRA to then allow me to get back into the backdoor Roth?
Appreciate any help!
No.
No.
Yes, assuming it’s been at least 2 years. Honestly SIMPLE IRAs don’t play well with other accounts like solo 401(k)s and especially Backdoor Roth IRAs.
Dude, doesn’t seem worthwhile to me as putting in $120 a year just doesn’t move the needle that much. And no, you cannot take your W2 income and put it into the employEE portion of your solo401k. And unfortunately I do not believe you can rollover the SIMPLE IRA at work unless you leave that employer, but you should check your plan document. Even if you were able to rollover the money, you should still each year as long as your with your employer take advantage of the SIMPLE IRA over doing a backdoor Roth given as a doc you are likely in higher tax brackets.
Thank you, that’s what I thought, but wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing out something beneficial.
Can physicians from any country register, including Nigerians.I have tried registering with the above survey companies but so far only M3 global seems okay, while for the rest, I couldn’t proceed with the registration as Nigerian is not among the list of countries listed under the ‘ where are you from ‘ questions
Not sure, but suspect you’ve already found the answer.
Is M3 real? Have people had a valid experience with them? The setup seemed sketchy
Yes, I’ve earned money with M3.
Yes, M3 is real, i am working with them for many years.
I have used them for three years now. More likely to screen out than others, but they send me at least one survey per day to review. Also, the payouts are easy and they offer the option for a check.
M3 global is very real and very efficient
Which surveys are best for residents, it seems like all of them are for attendings?
Unfortunatley being a resident will usually screen you out of these surveys 🙁
How about fellows?
Any good survey sites for dentists? I’ve done one through ImpactNetwork that is easy and pays $40 for about 15 minutes of my time. There is only one survey a month though and was wondering which others are worth it for dentists. Several years ago I tried another site (can’t remember which, might have been one of those listed on this post) but it seemed I always screened out after like 10 minutes so I gave it up. I usually end up wasting time browsing on my phone at the end of the day so I figure I might as well make some extra play money!
Can people working on Visa(H1) also do these surveys?
yes! Just as long as you are not a citizen of the EU, which some surveys actually ask and screen you out. Not sure but I assume EU physicians many not be allowed to interact with pharma.
I think so but check with each company individually.