Please note that this is a growing list of physician side hustles as I come across new ideas and receive submissions as well. So check back often and feel free to submit your own ideas down below.
If you'd like to talk about these topics in real-time, feel free to join our private FB groups, Passive Income Docs & Passive Income Professionals.
(Updated 2020)
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 – InCrowd, ZoomRX (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
- Film/TV/Media consultant – ReelMD
- 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
- Aesthetics clinic – Aesthetics Pro Workshop
- 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, message me, or join the discussion on our Facebook group (Passive Income Docs and Passive Income Professionals). Thanks!
Thanks for the mention and more thanks for the list, I can use your list for reference too!
I’m following your Airbnb series closely!
Holy Crap! That’s quite the list. I do about 5 of those things.
Haha. Hey, five is an impressive number!
What an awesome list, thank you for putting this together!
You’re welcome!
Great list! Thanks for including my podcast. Katrina Ubell, MD is a great example of a doctor turned coach (weight loss). She was on episode 1 of the Hippocratic Hustle and she talked all about it. http://Www.KatrinaUbellMD.com
Thanks! I enjoy listening to the podcast. Added her to the list 🙂
That’s quite the list! With so many links, even — thank you for including my “side hustle.”
I would add locum tenens work to clinical. I’ve done locums between jobs and on “vacation” weeks to turbocharge my debt paydown timeline.
While more clinical work is usually more lucrative than most side hustles, most of us are interested in working fewer clinical hours, not more. Many of these non-clinical income-generating activities are fun and / or interesting in ways that our day / night jobs are not. So you get income diversification and skills diversification.
Cheers!
-PoF
Yes, doing locums is a great side hustle, so obvious it escaped the list. It’s on there now, thanks!
I think people also value the flexibility that comes with some of these side hustles – do it when you want so you can focus on things you value more, like spending time with your family. Thanks for the input.
Nice list. I should jump on that. Not ever side hustle venture will turn out positively, so it does pay (no pun intended) to have multiple potential revenue streams.
Thanks! Even better if the revenue stream has the potential to be more passive.
Thanks so much for putting this list together, I will share this. There are so many avenues that are open to us.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing! With our degrees there are definitely some other side hustles available to us should we decide to go down that road.
Great list – I learned a lot! Will be sharing with physician clients who need to find a side hustle to open a solo-401k.
Yes, that’s a great aspect of the side hustle that I didn’t mention. Do I smell a guest post here?
You could probably twist my arm the next time you run out of ideas 🙂
Great List. This will grow and expand over time I bet. A lot of doctors tell me there is nothing they can do to earn more money. Now I will send them this link!
Thanks! There are always ways to make more money – some more profitable, some more time-consuming. Everyone needs to figure out what works best for them, but there ARE options!
Neat list! My fun side hustle is a handmade soap business – mostly for fun, but does generate a little bit of money – http://www.l3osoaps.com
This is amazing! Fun & makes money – sounds like a winning combo…
Thank you for this list. It is life changing
I don’t think I saw medical director jobs for home health/hospice, infusion centers or clinical lab director. Many of these are MD rubber stamp jobs. Supper easy, good pay for the minimal time required. I rubber stamp 3 drug testing labs, 2 hospices and an infusion center. Worth looking into..
All great suggestions. I’ll add it, are you involved in any of them personally?
I’m involved in all of them.
Impressive…
how did you find these positions?
There are home health and hospice companies that market to my office. I started asking if they needed a medical director and found 2. The lab directorships I stumbled on. The infusion center I opened with partners but I think you just have to keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities….they are out there.
Thanks for the info, this is very helpful.
Great list! That would be pretty cool to get an Uber and talk to a cardiologist about your heart health lol. Two birds with one stone. I think physicians have lots of opportunities to side hustle and keep things interesting whether in clinical practice or other stuff.
Looking for a gig I can do 8pm-midnight
Motivated and eager to rip into something but alot of the side hustles are limited in how much you can do
Suggestions? Caveat – want to work from home – so not moonlighting
Is there a way to do case reviews – but an unlimited amount?
I like the motivation of a non salaried side hustle – so if I want to do 20 cases in a week or 200 is up to me and the work is available.
Thanks
JustSayin
The ideal side hustle in my mind is something that can scale and isn’t trading time for money. Have the motivation to start a business?
YES- totally agree I can cram more work in the day, but ultimately not worth it. Which is why I have cut back at moonlighting – diminishing returns. Are you asking me would I start a business – of course. Whatcha have in mind?
JustSayin
ok – so what business to start?
ivy trained internist/hospitalist
i’m buying 1-2 homes per year -> cash flow 8-10+% per property
i do expert witness work
i moonlight
but I want something that can scale – thoughts?
Are there any side hustles for residents you can advise?
Side hustles require time, energy, and sometimes money. Unfortunately residents are short on all three of those things. Your first priority should absolutely be to get through your training because most likely your physician income is going to be the majority of your earnings in your lifetime. That said, I don’t think it hurts to try something if you have a little extra time or energy again as long as it’s not at the expense of your training. Start by figuring out your goals – are you looking for $50-100/week, or are you trying to hit a home run that will someday allow you to cut back on medicine, or is it something else? That will help you decide what would make sense. Get back to me with those if you can and I can give you a better answer.
I’m just looking for additional outlets for income. On my easy rotations, I have the time and energy to devote to them. I want something in which I can use my degree and work for something or someone medically related as an intern. Thanks
Out of residency for coming up on 10 years
I have multiple streams of income but if you really want to be a stickler – I’d say its still equivalent to trading time for money but at a much better rate.
I want to use my evenings – call it 30 hours a week – to build something that scales, that will eventually make money 24/7. Thoughts?
Or is the play – just bank cash from ‘moonlighting’ side hustles that currently increase my income by 50% and then invest in real estate for instance
Thanks for the coversation
JustSayin
Another Great Post. You should present at SEAK! You would be amazing and I think they pay you to attend.
Thanks for saying that. Don’t know too much about SEAK, have you been to the conference?
I have – worth the $$ if you plan on serving as expert.
I went to prepare for deposition.
On the surface sounds expensive, but networking and what I learned will prepare me for long career as expert.
Made the money back after 1 case!
passive MD, do you endorse any med spa / aesthetic societies ?
I don’t, although I have looked into it in the past. I even went to a medical spa conference for a few days when I was an intern looking into different opportunities. Are you involved in them?
I’m not involved but it appears like an easy way to get ripped off taking classes that aren’t from credible people.
I definitely think it’s important to vet the people teaching the classes and read the reviews.
I am a 3rd-year family medicine resident. My hustling journeys started with me starting an orphan care organization, that changed my life and continues to do so. The website for the orphan care organization is ShapingDestiny.org
I also have a real online business whose main website is KennethMD.com. I share lessons I’m learning about health, leadership, and productivity. Over the last 3 years of residency, I’ve been fortunate to make about 20-25K of passive income each year from my online businesses associated with KennethMD.com. I’m definitely not where I want to be but I’m excited about what the future holds.
Another hustle blog I have is TimeofCare.com. I started that blog as my learning notebook while in the second year of residency. It’s growing quickly and having more than 10K users per month, I’m thinking of collaborating with other MD entrepreneurs to create win-win content for timeofcare.com that helps expose their own ventures while allowing them to contribute content that is helping other medical learners. It’s only just the beginning for TimeofCare.com.
That’s impressive, especially that you’re doing these things during residency. Goes to show you can make time for things that are important to you.
Great list! My sister is doing her Residency now. She moonlights in a clinic to get a little something extra on the side.
That is an impressive list. I appreciate the ideas. In my experience, one key to maximizing income is to take side jobs that can be done concurrently with other work eg attend on a low acuity ward, take call for low acuity patients, medical advising for insurers such as workers compensation. I have found these side hustles to be lucrative and very efficient from a dollars per hour perspective.