Are you looking for ways to make additional cash in your free time? Here are three different ways that don’t involve having experience, or a degree. These are medical side hustles that are not as popular but have high earning potential.
- Medical Courier
If you don’t mind driving and using your own car for work, this would be a great option as you can make more than delivering food or driving people on uber and similar platforms. Plus if you rather not deal with strangers riding in your car this can be a profitable way to earn extra cash.
Instead you can deliver medical specimens, medical equipment and anything else that might need to be transported from clinic to clinic.
Some of the common requirements to become a medical courier include:
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- Drivers should be 21 years or older
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- You should know your city well
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- A registered, insured and inspected car that is reliable
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- And knowing how to use a smartphone with the required app
According to glassdoor.com “While medical couriers are paid per delivery, the average medical courier earns $30,000-$45,000 per year. (Glassdoor)”. This is a considerable amount of money for a job you can do if you like to drive.
Here’s a list of websites you can checkout if you are interested in learning more and signing up for this side hustle:
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- goshare.co
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- lablogistics.com
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- dropoff.com
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- frayt.com
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- cbdriver.com
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- Reliablecouriers.com
I think this one is pretty straightforward, you are getting paid to transport medical equipment like an uber for medical stuff.
- Selling Plasma
This is a common way to make extra cash, and you might already know about this, but if you do your research, talk to your doctor and get the approval to go ahead, you can make a good chunk of cash donating your plasma for money.
Of course, this implies that you will be poked with a needle every time you decide or are able to donate. It is not for everyone and it can actually cause scar tissue over your vein if you constantly donate.
But if you are in a pinch you can make between $30 and $60 per session, although there are centers that will offer $100 per donation if you do this enough times you can see how the money is there. Again this is one I would recommend you talk to your health care provider about, just to make sure you are healthy enough to donate plasma. It is also not something you can do indefinitely as it does take a toll and it involves getting poked for blood.
Finally for number 3 which is my favorite one to talk about and also one of the most lucrative ways to earn money in healthcare.
- Participating in Clinical Research!
As I have a background in clinical research this is something I am very passionate about!
Clinical research trials are always recruiting and will pay you for your time depending on the commitment that comes with the study and other factors.
Each clinical trial is different and I would highly recommend you speak with your doctor before you apply to participate in a clinical trial.
There is not enough information out there on clinical trials so I would be surprised if everyone watching this video has heard about it. Please comment down below if this is new for you or if you have participated in clinical research as it will help me gain an understanding of my audience.
Without boring you here is a quick excerpt from pubmed on what you can expect to earn based on research they collected. I think you guys are going to be mind blown with this information.
“131 participants routinely completed clinical trial diaries or confirmed that they had not screened for any new clinical trials. Together, these participants screened for 1001 clinical trials at 73 research facilities during a 3-year period. Overall, the median clinical trial compensation was US$3070 (range = US$150-US$13,000).
Participants seeking new healthy volunteer trials tended to screen for three studies per year, participate in one or two studies, and earn roughly US$4000 annually. Participants who were unemployed earned the most income from clinical trials compared to those with full-time or part-time jobs, and those individuals whom we label “occupational” participants because of their persistent pursuit of clinical trials earned more than people who screened occasionally. Notably, the median annual trial compensation was well below US$10,000 for all employment groups, and most occupational healthy volunteers also earned less than US$10,000 each year. The 10% of participants who earned the most had a median annual income of US$18,885 from clinical trials, and there was significant volatility in these individuals’ earnings from year to year.”
Just as a quick overview, pharmaceutical companies recruit participants to trial a new medication or a device. Sometimes it can simply be an observational study where they will monitor your symptoms over time if you have an illness that they are studying.
A quick example of this would be if you had covid and a clinical research company was interested in taking specimens and observing your symptoms. Or perhaps you suffer from IBS or other GI issues where researchers might gain a better understanding if they observe your signs and symptoms.
Other times you will try a new vaccine or medication and sometimes you will wear a new device, think of all the new wearables coming out that have the capability to monitor your vital signs.
If the developers of these devices want to claim that they are safe and accurate, they have to be held to the same FDA standards as other medications and healthcare devices.
Many clinical trials target patients who have a medical history such as high blood pressure in order to see if a medication works correctly and doesn’t cause major side effects.
Other studies recruit healthy participants without any medical issues to try medications or devices that are new to humans. There are different stages in the pharmaceutical device process and the first human trials are done on healthy individuals.
You can earn thousands of dollars by participating in these trials!
However, I think overall participating in improving current medications and therapies gives you a better understanding on how science works and it is rewarding to know that you are helping to make better treatment options for people who are suffering from different medical problems.
Of course there are many things to consider before participating in clinical research trials. The most important being your current health status. As well as learning as much as you can about the trial you are considering joining.
I could go on for hours talking about what it’s like to participate in clinical research, how to do it, where to sign up and how much you can possibly earn. There are so many questions and not a lot of answers!
To recap
In this article we have discussed the top 3 ways you can make extra cash in healthcare in 2024.
Sure these three side hustles will not make you rich by any means but if you are interested in earning a bit of extra cash or adding an additional income stream they are definitely worth a shot.
You can work as a medical courier, delivering medical equipment and specimens as you don’t need experience or a degree to get started.
Another great option we covered is donating plasma since again you don’t need any experience or education. However, you have to be mindful that there are usually limits to how often you can donate.
And lastly! My favorite and the one I am most passionate about, You can help advance science by participating in clinical research!
I hope this article was helpful!