There are plenty of side hustles that can help medical doctors make extra income.
Even though doctors tend to be highly paid (over $200,000 median salary), they’re also straddled with student loans and a late start to their careers.
Thankfully, there are a variety of side hustle ideas that can:
- make life more fulfilling
- earn you financial independence
- help you stay on top of your career
Whether you’re looking to supplement your income or simply explore new opportunities, side hustles can be a great way to stay afloat while you continue to practice medicine.
In this post, we’ll explore some of the best ways to make extra money as a doctor.
1. Start a YouTube Channel
There are many benefits to having a YouTube channel as a doctor. Perhaps most obvious is that it can help you attract new patients.
A well-made, informative channel can introduce potential patients to your practice and showcase your skills as a doctor.
Additionally, a channel can be a great way to educate patients about their health conditions and the treatments you recommend.
Perhaps best-known is Doctor Mike, a Board Certified Family Medicine Doctor living in NYC. He presently has over 9M+ YouTube subscribers, and is estimated to make thousands of dollars a day from his videos.
So if you have an interest in health and wellness topics, a YouTube channel can be a great way to share your knowledge with the world.
What kind of videos could you make? Popular content ideas might include:
- explanations of symptoms and possible treatments
- product reviews
- self-care instructions
- Q&A sessions
- health tips and tricks
- and more
2. Rent Out Medical Equipment
You could rent out equipment to other healthcare professionals who are starting their practices, or rent equipment directly to hospitals and medical institutions.
This means that doctors can lease the equipment from you rather than buying it outright.
This is a great option for doctors who want to start their practice but don’t have the money upfront to buy everything they need. And it’s a way for you to monetize seldom-used equipment.
3. Create a Helpful Website
Blogging can be a fun and lucrative side hustle for doctors. There are many ways to monetize a website, and many doctors have found success by starting a blog.
If you have an interesting story to tell, or a unique perspective on medical (or other) issues, you can make money by building out a helpful online resource.
Some famous examples include:
- Dr. Axe – Nutrition and healthy living
- White Coat Investor – Personal finance for physicians
- Dr. Chatterjee – Health and lifestyle
Making money blogging requires hard work, dedication, and a commitment to learning online business.
If you’re thinking of starting a blog as a doctor, here are some tips to get started and help you make money blogging:
- Find a topic that interests you and focus on it. (For example, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, etc.).
- Develop a content strategy and create engaging posts that will attract readers.
- Promote your blog through social media and other online channels.
- Make money from advertising, affiliate marketing, or your own products and services.
4. Freelance Writing
Freelancing can be a great way to make some side income and work from home.
There are many different types of writing available, including medical writing, medical copywriting, and many others.
Some places you can look for medical freelance writing jobs are:
- job boards
- freelance sites like Upwork
- websites that specialize in medical writing jobs
- health websites
- and more
For online health sites, you may be able to reach out and see if they’re looking for freelance writers.
You can also search online databases of healthcare-related job openings.
Freelance writing can pay pretty well, too, especially if you’re a fast writer. Rates typically range from $0.05 to $0.35 per word, which means a 1,000 word article could pay $50-350.
5. Start a Podcast and Discuss Medical-Related Topics
A great side hustle for doctors is starting a podcast. There are many different ways to monetize a podcast, and it can be a great way to share your expertise with the world and make an additional income.
Starting a podcast is a great way to connect with other doctors, experts, and listeners around the world.
Not only will this provide you with valuable information and insights, but it could also help you build relationships and connections that could lead to new opportunities.
For example, Dr. Joe Casciani started the Living to 100 Club to discuss longevity and healthy aging. He makes money from one-on-one consultations and public speaking.
Podcasts are inexpensive to start and are a scalable business model. After all, it takes the same effort to produce a show that 10 people listen to as it does to create one that 10,000 people listen to.
6. Software Consulting
Starting a consulting business is a great option. Is there a software tool that you use in your practice? One that maybe you’re an early adopter of?
One popular side hustle is to “piggyback” on the popularity of a particular software tool, and provide training and support for it. My friend Brad Rice does this with Salesforce and earns over $200k a year part time!
As more people and offices use the software, there’s a growing demand for qualified training. Plus, new software comes out all the time, which means even if you don’t have a software in mind today, it could be a side hustle idea for you down the road.
7. Real Estate Investing
Real estate has long been a popular side hustle for people of all professions.
As a doctor, it’s a great way to:
- make extra money
- diversify your income
- build long-term wealth
- build your network
And unlike a medical practice, real estate is time-leveraged — it’s not hours for dollars like seeing patients. Plus, it’s an inflation hedge and somewhat recession-proof — people always need a place to live.
If your local market is prohibitively expensive, check out a platform like Roofstock.
Roofstock makes it easy to shop for income-producing properties all around the country — often with tenants and property management already in place.
Plus, with depreciation and mortgage interest deductions, real estate investing may be able to reduce your taxable income.
8. Tutoring
Did you ace your MCAT or dominate your pre-med classes? A tutoring business could be a great way to make some extra money and help people achieve their goals in life!
As a doctor, you have a unique set of skills and knowledge that can be used to help others achieve their dreams of becoming a doctor as well.
You can start by offering one-on-one tutoring sessions to medical students. Popular marketplaces like Wyzant and The Princeton Review can connect you with potential customers.
Or, you could offer online tutoring sessions through Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom.
Tutoring doesn’t require any startup costs and can earn anywhere from $50-250 an hour.
You can start small with a simple website and a few clients, and grow your business from there.
9. Self-Publish a Book
As a doctor, you may be interested in writing a book to share your knowledge and expertise either with patients or with others in the medical field.
And thanks to the Amazon Kindle platform, it’s never been easier to get your ideas out to the world. You can self-publish a book on your medical field, health, fitness, med school, or any other topic.
For example, physical therapist Sean Sumner wrote this guide on how to get rid of your back pain.
It’s got over 150 reviews on Amazon, and has led to paid speaking gigs on top of his author royalties.
You can set your own prices and collect a 70% royalty on all Kindle book sales priced between $2.99 and $9.99. (Amazon makes it easy to create a print-on-demand paperback as well.)
10. Help with Med School Admissions
For years, my friend Dr. Ryan Gray has been helping students with the medical school admissions process. He produces online content about admissions and does expert one-on-one and group consulting.
Similarly, Dr. Shirag Shemmassian built a multi-6-figure business helping students with their personal statements and applications. At $4k+ per client, it doesn’t take a ton of customers to turn this into a serious side hustle!
11. Become an Expert Witness
Medical doctors are often called as expert witnesses in court cases and malpractice suits. Expert Institute is a free service to connect you with attorneys who may need your help.
You can set your own fees and only take on cases that interest you.
12. Remote Market Research
Since doctors are notoriously busy, researchers pay a lot for your opinion!
For example, on Respondent, you’ll find remote market studies paying anywhere from $200-$1,000 an hour.
This is an easy way to make extra money sharing your opinion on upcoming products and giving your feedback. Be sure to check out our full Respondent review to learn more.
13. Host Group Classes or Workshops
If you have an existing roster of patients, maybe you could host a one-off educational workshop in the evening. For example, if you work in orthopedics, you could put together a class on injury prevention or how to rehab after surgery.
Or similarly, you could partner with a nearby office building to host a lunch-time workshop on healthier eating habits. This could be a free marketing channel for your practice, or you charge a nominal fee.
14. Drop Servicing
Drop servicing is a popular side hustle, especially in the home services industry. We’ve seen examples in cleaning, window washing, pressure washing, mobile detailing, etc.
For example, Anthony and Jhanilka Hartzog built their Dallas-based cleaning service to over $20k a month, contracting with other cleaners to do the work.
In exchange for marketing and administering the service, they take 40% of the cleaning fee. Not bad for building a network of cleaners and finding them work! Plus, more and more homeowners are delegating this type of work, and existing businesses aren’t keeping pace.
You can even do this online. Maybe there’s a common pain point among your fellow physicians in operating their business that a remote service could help solve.
15. Create Printables
If you want to exercise your creativity after hours, making printables could be a way to do it and make money at the same time. Printables are files that other businesses and customers can buy and customize to their needs.
For example, you probably already have a standard new patient intake form or liability waiver. Believe it or not, people are buying nice-looking versions of files like those all day long on Etsy.
Or you could create files for patients to manage their medications, track their rehab progress, or follow a pre-op procedure.
16. Sleep Consulting
As any parent can attest, sleepless nights with babies and toddlers are a major pain! To help support those bleary-eyed parents, sleep consultants create semi-personalized plans to get those kids sleeping through the night.
And they charge $400-600 for it!
Since the work is done remotely, you can take on several clients at once. On top of that, your medical background makes your advice more credible.
17. Create an Online Course
Finally, you might consider packaging up some of your knowledge into an online course. This can be a way to serve would-be patients who don’t live nearby.
For example, the online course platform Udemy focuses on career advancement training and has more than 50 million students worldwide. (I created a course on self-publishing in 2014, and have earned over $20,000 from it so far.)
The downside to Udemy is that prices are pretty low. If you’re confident you can do your own marketing, you can command much higher prices. On The Side Hustle Show, we’ve seen online course case studies on topics like:
- bellydance as a cure for incontinence
- growing microgreens (and earns $40k+ per month)
- baking sourdough
- and more!
What could you teach?
The Best Side Hustles for Doctors: Final Thoughts
In conclusion, there are many great side hustles for doctors. Which one is the best option for you depends on your goals and the time you have to dedicate to it.
Hopefully you found some inspiration in this list and checked a few of the options to explore further. If nothing else, make sure to subscribe to The Side Hustle Show for weekly inspiration!
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Big thanks to Femikay for helping draft this post! Femikay is a medical student, professional copywriter, and a business blogger who offers copywriting, blog tutorials, and consulting services.
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