10 Best Physician Side Gigs

I write a lot about the importance of generating multiple streams of revenue.  Despite being a physician, which generally is associated with a high income, that does not offer the level of security I wish for my finances.  Though my day job can be lucrative, it is far more important to create different avenues of cash flow and passive income to combat economic hardship. 

I think side gigs can be great for anyone, including physicians.  However, it is important to note that a physician’s time is an expensive commodity.  If you choose to pursue a side gig, it needs to be worth the time and effort, while simultaneously offering enough interest to keep the revenue stream steady.  I have worked to compile a list of the 10 best physician side gigs. 

Moonlighting and Locum Tenens

Number one on our list of the 10 best physician side gigs is a natural fit for most physicians.  Moonlighting and locum tenens work is just an extension of your current profession.  For the colleagues in my field who are unfamiliar with this concept, moonlighting is essentially ‘extra’ or ‘overtime’ work.  For example, I am a pulmonologist and intensivist.  Prior to pursuing a fellowship in these subspecialties, I was an internist. 

As such, I have board certification to practice as a hospitalist alongside my work in the ICU or on pulmonary consults (both of which are subject to moonlighting opportunities as well).  Oftentimes, these moonlighting opportunities can be available at your current location of employment.  However, you can equally work for other hospital systems as long as it does not conflict with my contractual obligations.  If you want more information on moonlighting, check out our post Get Started Moonlighting. 

Pros of moonlighting and locum tenens as a physician side gig

• Upfront investment is minimal…you are already a physician
• Reimbursement is competitive
• This physician side gig can be performed while in training (i.e., residency or fellowship)

Cons of moonlighting and locum tenens as a physician side gig

• The time commitment can be high (8 to 12-hour shifts)
• Shifts available are often difficult to fill (i.e., nights and weekends)
• Locum Tenens work (usually) requires travel for extended durations which difficult on family life
• Reimbursement can vary widely based on location and specialty, etc.

Real estate investing

Number two on our list of the best physician side hustles is real estate.  There are many, many platforms that argue for real estate investing as a must for doctors.  I am inclined to agree.  Real estate investing has been a pillar of cash flow generation for centuries.  High income earners like physicians, dentists, pharmacists, etc. are positioned to seize this opportunity as they often can get loans and mortgages approved given their incomes.  

Real estate investing is great because there are many avenues to invest.  Further, how involved you wish to be with your property has wide swaths of variation too.  From ‘flipping’ homes to owning and operating rental properties, all the way to real estate investment trusts (REITs) and crowd-funding (think CrowdStreet or Fundrise).  There are so many ways to invest in real estate. 

It is common to receive higher returns on your investments (ROI) with real estate investing than through indexing the market alone (i.e., investing in index funds).  If you have the capital, are willing to take out another mortgage, and/or manage your own property, then there is a real estate investing opportunity for you.  I encourage everyone to consider having real estate in some form or fashion in their investment portfolio. 

Pros of real estate investing as a physician side gig

• Multiple avenues for investing
• Offers flexibility in many categories including time, upfront investment, and profit potential
• Higher ROI than through many other avenues of investing

Cons of real estate investing as a physician side gig

• Requires knowledge not obtained through medical education
• Depending on how you choose to invest, can require upfront capital or second mortgages
• So many options, it can be overwhelming to decipher which investment strategy is right for you

Day trading

All physicians dream of turning their high incomes into lucrative investments.  For these reasons, day trading is number three on our list of the 10 best physician side gigs.  A physician’s financial superpower is their reimbursement.  There are countless articles online telling high income earners how to invest their money.  Commonly, this takes the form of investing in low expense ratio index funds.  This is a safe long-term strategy to exponentially grow your nest egg.  However, this tends to be a more passive approach to generating income and I do not define this form of investing as a side gig. 

For those with the determination and understanding of national and international markets, day trading can be a lucrative way to generate supplemental income.  I would be remiss if I didn’t comment that there is overwhelming data to support the claim that individuals who try and time the market (i.e., day trading) rarely come out on top.  It is for this reason that the evidence supports lower risk index investing.  However, there is clearly a portion of the population who are eager to turn pennies into dollars on a daily basis.  For those with large opportunity funds and confidence in their understanding of stock trajectories, then this may be the right side gig for you. 

Day trading requires a huge learning curve.  There is no portion of medical education that can train you to be a successful day trader.  As such, the upfront investment is high.  If you start to day trade blindly, then you are gambling in my opinion.  However, if you wish to gain the knowledge necessary to day trade, then potentially there is profit to be had.  It is important to note that day trading is also time consuming and thus difficult for actively practicing physicians.  This physician side gig is not for the faint of heart, and definitely not for individuals who are not on solid financial footing.

Pros of day trading as a physician side gig

• Can be very lucrative
• Can offer a short return on your investment (see your success in real time)

Cons of day trading as a physician side gig

• Countless evidence supports that very rarely can individuals ‘beat the market’
• High barrier to entry as there is a steep learning curve
• Requires education not gained through medical education
• Immensely risky for those without opportunity funds they are willing to lose

Blogging

Number four on our list of the 10 best physician side gigs is blogging.  Obviously blogging is near and dear to my heart.  I have personally chosen this as my current physician side gig.  You can read about my entire blogging journey by checking out My Physician Side Hustle the series.   I think blogging is a great side hustle, but I will be the first to tell you that it requires a lot of upfront time investment and years of dedication and perseverance. 

Gone are the days of routinely publishing posts until your traffic increases exponentially.  Now you have to understand how to rank on Google, you have to optimize your content for search engines, there is coordination of affiliate marketing and advertising (just to name a few).  It is much more challenging than most realize.

Blogging is helpful because it can allow you to pursue a passion and potentially monetize it.  However, it is critical to understand that this does not happen overnight.  Also, life changing revenue is not guaranteed.  It very commonly takes years before you will see traffic volumes high enough to create impactful money.  Even further, just because you have high volume traffic, that does not always correlate with an audience whom you can monetize. 

You need to research your selected niche before deciding to blog.  The benefits of this chosen physician side hustle is that you can put as much or as little time investment as you prefer into it.  The barriers to entry are incredibly low now, which is a good thing.  Virtually anyone can start a blog in 10 minutes.  However, if you are willing to put in the work and choose a niche that has profit potential…eventually there is real opportunity for profit. 

If you are interested in how to start a blog, then check out our post How to Start a Blog!

Pros of blogging as a physician side gig

• Incredibly low barrier to entry
• Allows individuals to further explore their passion (even outside of medicine)
• The time commitment can vary based on your schedule
• For certain niches, blogging can be quite lucrative

Cons of blogging as a physician side gig

• Certain niches (i.e., travel, personal finance, etc.) can be competitive and difficult to rank for
• It will take years before you can potentially create enough traffic to generate real revenue
• There is more education required to truly optimize your content and generate traffic than most realize
• Blogging is becoming a more saturated side gig

Podcasting

The fifth side gig on our list of the 10 best physician side gigs is podcasting.  I have specifically chosen podcasting to follow blogging as I see them as similar entities.  Now, I do not personally own or operate a podcast at this time, but the reasons for pursuing podcasting as a physician side gig mirror blogging. 

Podcasting can offer another platform for physicians to create virtual content for others to digest on a regular basis.  If you build and maintain an audience, then you create the incentive for advertisers to pay you to make an appearance on your platform.  Podcasting currently has a low barrier to entry.  With a smartphone and an interesting topic, almost anyone can start a podcast. 

The benefits revolve again around flexibility and ease of entry.  For podcasts with a large audience, there is real profit to be made through affiliates and advertisements.  Again, this generally takes years of content production before these numbers are attainable.  Podcasting requires a regular cadence of published content and a niche that is specific enough that you can corner the market, but broad enough that you have a (relatively) endless supply of topics for discussion. 

Pros of podcasting as a physician side gig

• Again, low barrier to entry from a technical and cost perspective
• A physician side gig that offers flexibility with your time and schedule
• Multiple opportunities to generate revenue including affiliates, advertisements, etc.

Cons of podcasting as a physician side gig

• Requires years of regular content production before high revenue is attainable
• Requires a well selected niche that is readily monetized
• Is becoming a more saturated side gig

Creating an online course

As you may have realized from the other physician side hustles listed previously (i.e. blogging and podcasting), creating a digital product is a great avenue for generating supplemental income.  For this reason, number six on our list of the 10 best physician side gigs is creating an online course.  Digital products only take up virtual space.  If they are evergreen (withstand the test of time) they can generate revenue for years to come. 

Creating an online course only takes up virtual real estate.  It occupies no tangible space but is infinitely scalable.  Therefore, online courses, much like other virtual products we have discussed, are great for physician side gigs.  If your time is valuable and limited, sometimes the best way to create supplemental income is to put 100% effort into a single product then step away and see if it is valuable.  If you put time, effort, and research into it (and it is valuable to a population) then it will likely generate revenue.  What is great about this digital product is that you only have to create it successfully once, then it is (theoretically) infinitely productive. 

For physicians, we have skills that are applicable to individuals both inside and outside of healthcare.  Create a course on how to perform certain medical procedures for others in your profession.  Create a masterclass for how to study for board examinations.  Teach a highly sought-after skill.  The possibilities are vast.  Platforms for this type of side hustle include Skillshare, Masterclass, or Khan Academy as examples.

Pros of creating an online course as a physician side gig

• As with many other digital products, online courses are infinitely scalable
• If you create a course that is highly sought after, it can generate a significant amount of revenue
• If you create an evergreen product, it can generate revenue for years
• If you already have a skill or fund of knowledge that you can succinctly teach, courses can be created in a relatively short time

Cons of creating an online course as a physician side gig

• Requires an understanding of market need as well as market saturation
• Often does require an upfront investment of both time and money
• Requires a significant amount of marketing (i.e. just because your product is great doesn’t mean potential customers will find it)
• Depending on what you are selling, digital courses have the potential to become outdated

Become an expert witness

Number 7 on our list of the 10 best physician side gigs is being an expert witness.  As physicians, our expert opinion can be pivotal in legal proceedings.  Expert witness work is non-clinical work that can help supplement your income.  Physicians who offer their time and medical opinions to the legal system can be highly compensated for their work. 

Various literature suggests a per hour reimbursement for your medical opinion between $400-$900 per hour (depending on your specialty).  As such, if you are hired to be an expert witness, a 5 hour interaction could net your between $2,000-$4,500.  Working 5 hours a month for 12 months could net you anywhere between $24,000-$54,000.  This money will not double your physician income, but it will absolutely make a dent.  Money like this can afford individuals the supplemental income needed to dial back their day jobs. 

I think it is important to note that commonly you will be called to comment on the medical care of a physician peer.  It can be emotionally taxing to comment on the competency or incompetency of another practitioner when we all know to err is human.  Though the money can be well reimbursed, there are other tolls that come with expert witness work.  Payment per hour can vary widely based on your chosen specialty or subspecialty, as well as the duration of interaction for which you were hired.  For those with the time, emotional understanding, and expertise, being an expert witness can be a great physician side gig. 

Pros of becoming an expert witness as a physician side gig

• Well reimbursed
• As a specialist or subspecialist (assuming maintenance of certification) you are likely already primed to be an expert witness
• Offers an unwritten curriculum on navigating medico-legal disputes and errors
• Offers an avenue for self-promotion, further opening similar opportunities.

Cons of becoming an expert witness as a physician side gig

• There is an emotional toll that comes with reviewing the medical care of peers
• Available employment can vary (feast or famine)

Freelance journalism

Number 8 on our list of the 10 best physician side gigs is freelance journalism.  This may seem akin to blogging, but it is different in a handful of ways.  Blogging revolves around creating a niche website that utilizes content to drive traffic and thus monetization.  Freelance journalism is essentially ‘content creator for hire.’ 

If you are an individual who enjoys writing and is willing to write on high volume topics, then you can monetize your work.  Depending on the subject, freelance journalism can range from 10 cents a word to as high as 25 cents a word (or higher).  In general, online articles and blogging posts rank better if they are optimized for search engines and are long-form works.  This means that the work is approximately 1,500-2,000 words or longer.  As such, it is commonplace for an established freelance journalist to make anywhere from $200 to $500 an article. 

For individuals looking to make a name for themselves, this can also be a great way to promote yourself.  The benefits of freelance journalism are flexibility of schedule and stable revenue if you continue to write.  For physicians, the opinion of a medical expert is valuable.  There are loads of opportunities to get started.  There are also platforms that can better help facilitate this including Fiverr and Upwork, to name a few. 

Pros of freelance journalism as a physician side gig

• Schedule flexibility
• Steady and expected income stream if you keep a regular schedule
• Allows an opportunity to monetize a topic you may enjoy writing about
• Physicians are often valued for certain niche topics like health, fitness, skin-care, etc.

Cons of freelance journalism as a physician side gig

• The more you write, the more you make (simultaneously a pro)
• Little room for substantial revenue growth
• Can be time-consuming depending on your writing efficiency
• It takes a while to become established enough to increase your price per word

Taking medical surveys

I previously wrote a post on how to make money taking medical surveys.  If you are interested in this as a side gig then I encourage you to check this post out.  Medical surveys are a niche physician side hustle because the value of physicians, especially specialists and subspecialists are highly valued.  Market researchers, technology companies, and pharmaceutical companies all need the opinions of physicians to determine the potential value of their products. 

I have utilized a number of medical survey platforms and they are all relatively similar.  Generally, the barrier to entry is low.  All you have to do is create an account and offer some form of identification and proof of medical credentials.  Most survey companies use brief introduction surveys to rule out individuals whose opinions may be less valuable.  Commonly, physicians in training or with few years in practice are weeded out.  The more specialized you are, the better. 

Subspecialties like cardiology, oncology, rheumatology, and pulmonology tend to be more sought after as their specialties utilize more novel pharmaceuticals (think biologics, immunotherapies, chemotherapies, etc.)  Pharmaceutical companies will pay top dollar to get the opinion of specialists who may potentially be the population prescribing a novel medication. 

In my experience, depending on the platform, medical surveys range from 5 to 60 minutes in duration.  Their reimbursement can also range from $10 to as high as $200-300 (on average).  If you are willing to be interviewed over the phone then compensation ranges from $200-800 or more.  These surveys can be monotonous and require patience when completing.  They commonly place control questions periodically in the surveys to prevent individuals from rushing through them just to make a dollar.  However, with the right specialty, dedicated time and perseverance, I have seen physicians make 5-figures annually taking medical surveys. 

Pros of taking medical surveys as a physician side gig

• This physician side gig is catered directly to physicians
• Has moderate income potential if you take as many surveys as you’re offered
• User accessibility (can be performed on any computer or smartphone)

Cons of taking medical surveys as a physician side gig

• Volume of surveys and reimbursement highly variable based on specialty
• A high volume of surveys will rule you out based on your experience or number of responses needed
• Effort dependent with little room to increase returns overtime

Becoming an influencer

Number 10 on our list of the 10 best physician side gigs is rooted in notoriety.  In reality, becoming an ‘influencer’ translates into growing and maintaining a social media presence.  Certain individuals who have the personality to generate a large following on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc. can monetize their audience.  Advertisers salivate over an individual with tens of thousands of followers who is willing to endorse a product. 

Here are a few caveats.  First and foremost, it is the rare individual who can pull this off.  In general, physician influencers are few and far between.  Think Dr. Glaucomflecken, Dr. Peter Attia, or Dr. Varshavski.  These individuals generally combine their medical profession with other traits or talents like fitness, comedy, or aesthetics.  Secondly, growing a large following does not directly correlate with substantial revenue.  Like blogging and podcasting, you have to also find a way to monetize that following.  This generally takes the form of product advertising or endorsements. 

Growing a social media presence is difficult.  Acquiring hundreds of thousands of followers is generally a starting point to generate life changing revenue.  If you are someone who is already well on their way to reaching these large audiences, then you likely are positioned to have a serious physician side gig. 

Pros of becoming an influencer as a physician side gig

• This physician side gig combines a ubiquitously used application (social media) with monetization
• Individuals with certain aesthetics or talents are poised to gain followers quickly
• Individuals with massive followings have multiple avenues to generate income (i.e. endorsements, advertisements, interviews, etc.)

Cons of becoming an influencer as a physician side gig

• Requires a very large volume of followers to be lucrative
• Number of followers does not (always) directly correlate with revenue
• Difficult to rely on medical knowledge alone to gain the following needed to generate significant revenue

Take home points

Despite having professions that are highly compensated, creating multiple streams of revenue can offer financial security.  Though you may not necessarily need the money, establishing a side gig can provide more than monetary gain.  Pursuing side gigs can allow physicians to pursue passions, improve their work-life balance, and help you learn a new skill set.  Many of the physician side gigs mentioned above require an initial time or monetary investment.  Further, the longer you hone your craft, the better chances you have of finding success.

Stay motivated!

The Motivated M.D.

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