Let’s talk about medical surveys as a side gig for physicians. Basically,
- What are they?
- How do they work?
- Why do them?
- And are they worth it?
I think these are important questions to answer because doing medical surveys is probably the most readily available and easy side gig available to doctors. So, it’s worth exploring if they could be a good side gig for you!
What are medical surveys?
According to M3, Healthcare market research studies help life sciences organizations understand how their medications and devices are being used or might be used in the future.
They also frequently involve listening to the experiences of patients living with the conditions they’re interested in as well as from the healthcare professionals that treat those conditions.
In very simple terms, medical companies that were working on developing new products or services related to healthcare need to be up to date on current healthcare practices, organization, and generally have their finger on the pulse.
The best way to do this is obviously to speak to actual healthcare professionals, notably doctors, and patients.
How do medical surveys work?
This is where you come in.
These healthcare organizations need this information so badly that they are willing to pay you for it.
Medical survey companies act as intermediaries between you and these information seeking companies.
The healthcare organizations contract with the medical survey companies and the medical survey companies find you. You complete the survey and get paid. Your information helps shape the future of healthcare. Everyone wins!
Why should you do medical surveys?
There are two main reasons as I see it:
- To influence and help inform the future of healthcare and your field in medicine
- To make money from the medical surveys as a side gig
Those are really the only ones that come to my head. And they are both worthwhile and very valid in my opinion.
Let’s explore each…
It may seem like I’m being facetiously noble when I say that we can help shape the future of healthcare through medical surveys as a side gig. But if you really think about it…you are. Whether through our professional societies, medical research, or, yes, surveys, we should strive to make medicine into its best self. And this is one way to do it.
Another way to do it is to become financially free and practice on your own terms…but I digress…
And then there is the aspect of doing these medical surveys to make money as a physician side gig.
This begs the question…
Are medical surveys as a physician side gig worth it?
My answer…
…it depends…
How’s that for sitting on a fence?
But that’s always my answer when people ask me what I think about this. It depends on what your goal is and how you plan to use medical surveys.
For instance, I do paid medical surveys as a side gig. But they are certainly not my main side gig.
I do them when I have some down time that I otherwise would not be using for anything productive…including relaxation (which is very productive when used correctly!)
What I mean is that if I find myself with a medical survey sent to me and I was just zoning out looking at my fantasy football team or something, then I may take the 15-30 minutes to fill it out and get paid.
If that same survey is sent to me and I am doing some other more important deep work or spending time with my family, I just pass on it.
So, whether it is worth it to me is very dependent on my circumstances.
How not to use medical surveys as a side gig
What I do not recommend is using medical surveys as a side gig to substantially increase your income.
Because you will have to do a lot of surveys. Which will take a good amount of your time. And the math just doesn’t add up.
Further, this then becomes more active income. And ultimately I would encourage you to seek out passive leveraged income like this.
Use the medical surveys to make some extra money that becomes play money. Then you can do what you want with it. If you make enough you can even open a solo 401k to invest it. Or you can use it to intentionally buy some consumer goods that you otherwise wouldn’t.
The bottom line
Medical surveys are definitely worth it as a physician side gig. Just use them the right way and they will help improve your financial well-being!
If you are looking for the opportunity to participate in some paid medical surveys, I have a few opportunities available to you right now! You can find them here. You can even earn a bonus for signing up with some providers like M3 ($50) for a limited time!
And if you are looking for other realistic and worthwhile physician side gigs that will accelerate your path to financial freedom, I have a whole list for you right here!
What do you think? Have you ever used medical surveys as a side gig? Do you like it? Interested in trying? Let me know in the comments below!
I have tried at least a handful of these surveys and conclude they are scams. I have never been reimbursed even once. Some others I have tried wasted my time screening me only to tell me the survey was full or I wasn’t what they were looking for. It got to the point I blocked them from my email.
Ugh I’m sorry. That hasn’t been my experience but thank you for sharing! Certainly I’ve always been promptly reimbursed for any completed surveys. But there can be scams out there which is why I recommend only going with reputable companies like the ones I’ve vetted and used myself!
I have done surveys for a little guilt free fun money for years. The main deterrents are the poor reimbursement for the time, and the lengthy qualifying questions after which you are often told you are ineligible. They also often significantly underestimate the time to completion, making your actual reimbursement as little as $40-50 an hour. My experienced opinions are not being reimbursed at a level they should be, it’s disrespectful.
My solution to this is that I only except surveys that meet at least my prorated hourly rate which I self set at $500 per hour. The benefit of service hours they often lead to bigger consulting opportunities where they will pay at these higher rates in my experience.
That’s a great blog. I have been trying to find reputable surveys myself. The link in your blog is not opening for me. Is there any other place where I can find that list? Are you able to provide us with the list? Thank you at appreciate it.
Thanks! You can find a full list here: https://prudentplasticsurgeon.com/recommended-paid-medical-surveys/