Physician assistants have a particular set of skills that are very unique to their profession. It’s one of the main reasons why there are so many side jobs for physician assistants.
If you’re looking for side gigs for physician assistants, you’re likely to come across some that pay pretty well. Many of them offer great benefits such as being able to make your own hours.
Here are the 13 highest paying side jobs for physician assistants.
13. Medical Spa Professional
Spas are extremely popular, but medical spas are allowed to do so much more. Many people nowadays seek out licensed medical spas to provide extra medical treatment and advice to customers.
These medical spas need physician assistants to help them give this advice and administer these treatments.
Typical aestheticians are barred from performing some invasive treatments that you could handle. You’ll also benefit from the tranquility of the spa environment and flexible schedule, not to mention it’s a job without deadlines.
Median Salary: $46,110 (Salary.com)
12. Survey Taker
Online surveys are available for anyone to take. Many times, they don’t pay well enough for the average person to make a serious side gig out of.
That’s not necessarily the case for physician assistants, though, as medical surveys provide a decent pay.
These surveys pay significantly better than other online surveys, because they require responses from people like you with specific skillsets and training. If you hate updating your resume, this is a job that doesn’t require a cv, which is a cool perk as well.
You can work as much or as little as you’d like, and take the online surveys at any time of day. With the extra money, you can pay for others to handle various chores such as yard work and grocery delivery.
Median Salary: $50,000 (Physicianonfire)
11. Tutor
Many students just like you are working hard to work in the medical field. One unique way that you could find side gigs for physician assistants is to tutor people who are still undergoing these studies.
Medical schools are highly competitive, and students are therefore willing to pay tutors to help them prep for the MCAT exam.
As a physician assistant, you are uniquely positioned to walk them through the MCAT and provide them tips and tricks on how to prepare and take the test itself.
Plus, you’ll have full control over your schedule, so it can definitely be a job with a lot of free time if desired.
Median Salary: $54,246 (ZipRecruiter)
10. Military Medical Evaluator
When people want to enter the military in the United States, they must pass medical standards that are set by the federal Department of Defense. This applies to all major branches of the U.S. military.
The medical professionals who perform these evaluations on potential recruits aren’t always full-time employees of the branch of the military.
As such, you could serve as a military medical evaluator on the side to bring in some extra money.
This work is great, as it gets you out in the field and working with patients. It’s also something that you could easily do on the side, especially if you live near a city or a military base.
Median Salary: $59,300 (Cureus)
9. Medical Administrator
Many medical practices are looking to outsource a lot of their administrative work nowadays.
It’s particularly attractive for smaller medical practices that don’t have the budget yet to hire a full-time administrator.
One of the great parts about this side hustle is you could play this role for a few medical practices at the same time.
This would allow you to increase your earnings exponentially, depending on how much side work you want to take on.
Median Salary: $60,344 (Salary.com)
8. Chart Reviewer
Doctors and nurses make a lot of important decisions for people’s health, and they do so independently. The people responsible for the checks and balances of these doctors and physicians are chart reviewers.
This position is basically a peer review, where you will review patients’ medical records to ensure they were provided with the appropriate procedures and medications for their ailment.
It’s among the most common side jobs for physicians assistants, because it’s not something that has to be done during normal working hours.
You can work on as much or as little as you want, and increase or decrease your workload based on what you need and what you can handle.
Median Salary: $62,093 (ZipRecruiter)
7. Medical Blogger
As a physician assistant, you have a lot of useful and practical knowledge that you can share with people to help them make their lives healthier and, as a result, better.
If you’re a good writer and can communicate a message well, you could become a medical blogger.
This is among the side jobs for physician assistants that provides some of the best flexibility. Not to mention, since this is a job without a dress code, you can work in your pajamas if you want.
You can basically write about whatever topic you want, and do it whenever you want from wherever you want.
Trends on the Rise
Looking for a way to attract readers to your blog? Use infographics. They increase readership by 80%. People read more articles with infographics and share more articles with infographics on social media. This all leads to more traffic to your site, which results in higher income.
Median Salary: $64,950 (Comparably)
6. Medication Review
When pharmaceutical companies produce new drugs, they need medical professionals to review them.
As a physician assistant, you could work for these companies to review charts and give your expert opinion about the outcomes of patients who took the medications in test periods.
This is a very flexible job for physician assistants, and it’s also very interesting work. You could have a huge impact on the health and well-being of literally millions of people with your review work, too.
Median Salary: $73,182 (Salary.com)
5. Telemedicine
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the popularity of, and demand for, telemedicine was increasing. As a McKinsey report stated, overall utilization for telehealth increased by 78 times in April 2020 over February 2020.
The advancement of technology has helped surge the industry forward, as more people were looking for medical help for non-emergency services without having to travel to an office.
This is a main reason why telemedicine is among the highest paying side hustles for physician assistants. It’s a great way to help people while working from wherever you want.
Median Salary: $78,975 (Talent.com)
4. Medical Research
Medical researchers are always in high demand from a number of different specialties in the industry. One of the most popular is pharmaceutical research that you can conduct for third-party companies.
These companies are studying the possibilities of converting a prescription drug to an over-the-counter drug, or trying to prove that generic drugs are similar to their brand-name counterparts.
Physician assistants are great for these roles. It’s a great side hustle, as the hours are flexible, the pay is good, and the work itself can be very interesting.
Median Salary: $89,411 (Salary.com)
3. Public Speaker
Public speakers are always in high demand. As a physician assistant, you could be hired to speak publicly for any number of entities.
A company in the pharmaceutical industry could hire you to speak to other doctors or medical professionals. A health organization could do the same.
If you don’t mind speaking in front of audiences, this could be one of the best side gigs for physician assistants.
Median Salary: $90,352 (Salary.com)
2. Consulting
There are plenty of times when companies need the help of medical experts to provide them with advice related to their business. This could be a law firm, a pharmaceutical company or any other industry.
As a physician assistant, consulting is a great side gig. Not only does it pay pretty well and allow you to work on your own terms, but it’s also a job that changes every day.
This change-of-pace is something that’s very attractive to many physician assistants.
It’s one of the most popular side jobs for physician assistants, too. In fact, in 2018, it was the top source for side gig income.
Median Salary: $104,982 (Erieri)
1. Expert Witness
Criminal and civil court cases will often require the services of a medical professional. In criminal cases, the prosecution or defense may call on an independent medical expert to review files and give their expert opinion on a medical matter.
The same happens in civil cases as well, which deal with financial rewards and/or penalties.
This could be a great side gig, as it pays well and could be a lot of fun. In a way, you’re serving as a detective and lawyer wrapped all into one, but using your medical expertise to help someone’s case.
If you like watching court cases on TV or ever dreamed of being a lawyer, this could be a great side hustle for you.
Tactics for Success
- If you want to work as an expert witness, you could join a directory called the ForensisGroup. They have matched more than 30,000 people with law firms to serve as expert witnesses across the country over their 25 years in operation.
- You could also contact local law firms in your area and tell them you’re interested in serving as a medical expert witness. Describe them you’re experience and area of expertise, and provide them with interesting ways you could help their cases.
Median Salary: $117,635 (ZipRecruiter)
Wrapping Up
Luckily, there are plenty of side jobs for physician assistants who are looking to make extra money.
If you work in this field, you are in high demand by a lot of industries, so you should do your best to take advantage of all the side gigs for physician assistants.
Tim is a classically-trained journalist who loves to share knowledge and information with others. In the past, he has worked in TV, online and print media, and currently works with companies to help design, create and strategize their messaging.
