Side Gigs For Physicians Boom As Salaries Flatten And Burnout Continues

Stack of money and an inscription side gig income on it.

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The Rise of Physician Side Gigs

Across the nation, physicians are seeking income streams beyond traditional clinical practice. According to a 2025 MedScape survey, 4 in 10 physicians now have a side gig, and nearly 75% report equal or greater fulfillment compared with clinical medicine. This shift isn’t solely about burnout, many doctors are responding to rigid pay structures, limited career growth, and a desire for autonomy. While side gigs currently account for just 10% of average physician income, reliance on them could rise as stress and attrition in medicine remain steady.

A Side Gig Becomes a Full Career

One pediatrician, Dr. Naomi Lawrence-Reid, has built an entire career centered around side gigs. Her trajectory began when she realized her lack of upward mobility within the hospital system. “I was early in my academic career with no mentorship or room to grow. I didn’t feel like I was playing the game in terms of research,” she recalls. Seeing women physicians underpaid and less-experienced men overly promoted sharpened her doubts. Eventually, she simply stopped seeing her future in the realm of academia.

Her tipping point came on an overnight shift when she was forced to chart in a broken chair. After reporting the equipment issue to administration, she later returned on a different shift to find two diapers taped to the armrest as a makeshift fix. “That was my final straw,” she says, calling it a “physical manifestation of disrespect.” Soon after, she resigned from academic medicine.

Building Side Gigs into Security and Autonomy

Lawrence-Reid then began building alternative streams of income. “Physicians are rarely taught about money or the business side of medicine,” she told me. She shifted to per diem work as an independent contractor, which allowed her to negotiate compensation more openly, a flexibility difficult to achieve for doctors employed in large systems.

Leaving academia, Lawrence-Reid emphasizes, doesn’t mean abandoning medicine or financial security. Through side gigs—per diem shifts, veteran disability exams, expert testimony, and medical aesthetics—she rebuilt her career outside the traditional model. Her new income quickly surpassed her former salary as a traditional pediatrician, drawing colleagues to her for advice.

Recognizing the demand, Lawrence-Reid launched Doctoring Differently, teaching courses on business strategies and navigating independence as a physician. “Free labor is baked into the physician experience,” she says. Her goal is to help physicians claim autonomy, diversify income, and break free from burdens that traditional roles often conceal. “Medicine will change when we as physicians have options outside of clinical medicine. Independence will make us louder.”

Balancing Academic Medicine with Side Gigs

Another physician, Dr. Brittne Halford, an internal medicine doctor at Harvard Medical School, demonstrates how side gigs work alongside her academic career.

When not on the wards, Halford has built expertise in tax strategy, financial planning, and entrepreneurship. Her Etsy store, Bramily and Rose, sells protective hair accessories. “It is semi-passive income,” she explains. There is still work involved with marketing, shipping and customer service but not a heavy load.” What makes it especially strategic is that she can employ her daughter through the business. This provides a tax break while helping her daughter plan for retirement and earn income at a young age.

Side Gigs as a Path to Financial Literacy

Halford’s financial fluency highlights a gap in physician training, where business education is rarely offered. To address this, she launched her financial coaching company, More Joy More Wealth, supporting women in healthcare with tailored strategies. “I started this company after paying off $138K in student loans in under three years—without working more, traveling less, or sacrificing joy,” she says. Seeing peers struggle, she began offering both one-on-one coaching and group courses.

Her platform has expanded to her YouTube channel, where she teaches financial education for healthcare professionals and high-income earners. The channel is nearing monetization and doubles as marketing for her coaching and corporate partnerships.

Expanding Side Gigs into Generational Wealth

Halford and her family are also investing in real estate. Their latest venture is a laundromat, which she views as both present and future income. “It’s a system we’ll optimize now and into retirement,” she says. Her tax knowledge allows her to leverage deductions and depreciation rules to offset physician income and lower her tax bill. This will also be a venture that can be passed down to her children, creating further opportunity for generational wealth.

Why Side Gigs Matter for Physicians’ Future

As side gig culture grows, physicians like Lawrence-Reid and Halford demonstrate its possibilities. For some, it means leaving full-time medicine; for others, it complements their existing careers. What they share is a willingness to explore beyond the boundaries of traditional practice.

The larger lesson: side gigs are no longer fringe. They’re already part of the physician experience for many. With education, coaching, and shared strategies physicians may reclaim agency, diversify income, and reduce dependence on others for financial stability and personal fulfillment.