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Side Gigs for Dermatologists

Over the years, we’ve seen countless requests for side hustle ideas for physicians in specific specialties in our Physician Side Gigs Facebook group. We continue our series of unique side gigs by specialty with side gigs for dermatologists. You’ll notice that many of the side gigs we mention here will require some personal branding, but for those doctors who aren’t interested in creating a large social media presence, there are also several clinical opportunities to practice dermatology or contribute to the field in other ways.


If you aren’t in dermatology and want to learn more about side gigs for your specialty, check out our page of side gig ideas for different specialties. If your specialty hasn’t been featured yet, follow the series on Instagram, where we’ve featured more specialties.


Disclosure/Disclaimer: Our content is for generalized educational purposes.  While we try to ensure it is accurate and updated, we cannot guarantee it. You should do your own due diligence before making decisions based on this page. To learn more, visit our disclaimers and disclosures.


Ideas for unique side gigs for dermatologists, including teaching others in aesthetic injections, skin product brand partnerships, and running a med spa

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Side Gigs for Dermatologists


Teledermatology


Anyone who has been on our Physician Community Facebook group knows the number of questions that come in about rashes and other skin concerns. For busy patients who want flexibility in scheduling and quick assessments, telemedicine can be a great way for dermatologists to expand their clinical practice for additional revenue. This can also be a way to expand your patient population and to help patients in rural and underserved areas. Opportunities exist for synchronous and asynchronous consultations, and dermatologists can opt to offer their own telemedicine services or work through a third-party company.


With numerous options comes high flexibility, allowing you to choose a schedule that fits your current commitments and income desires. Some telemedicine companies have a minimum hour requirement to work as a 1099 contractor, but it can be as low as a few hours a month, allowing you to pick up a few appointments here or there in the evenings or even in between patient visits.


Rates and responsibilities can vary greatly depending on the specific opportunity, so we always recommend vetting each opportunity you consider and making sure to check how malpractice insurance is covered. If you’re interested in starting your own telemedicine side gig independently, we have a malpractice insurance solution for telemedicine available with a member perk if you need it!


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Brand ambassador for skin products


Skincare and beauty companies are turning to dermatologists more and more as trusted experts to help market their products. You may be approached by a company interested in hiring you as a brand ambassador, or you may want to reach out to a company who sells a product you believe in and would like to support. Building out brand partnerships helps companies establish credibility and consumer trust, while offering you a unique way to share your clinical knowledge for extra income.


Brand ambassadors can support companies and their products through many different opportunities, such as:

  • Speaking at a conference or on a webinar about a product

  • Sharing sponsored product content on social media

  • Contributing and/or reviewing educational materials about a product

  • Being featured in product campaigns such as promotional images or videos for online ads


Compensation can vary greatly depending on the popularity of the brand, the type of partnership, and the amount of content. Some brands may even want assistance with developing future products, and compensation may come in the form of equity in the product’s future revenue. When partnering with brands, you are aligning your reputation with theirs, so it’s important to vet opportunities and to ensure the products you represent are ones you believe in and would recommend to your patients.


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Skincare related product development


Since dermatologists are always recommending skincare and other products, many dermatologists have created an ancillary income stream by creating their own skincare lines. This is usually done in one of two ways - actually creating their own formulation based on what they believe the products should have, or white-labeling (‘private labeling’) existing formulations of skincare products.  


As you may imagine, private labeling an existing formula is much faster and easier, as the product has already been formulated, tested, and approved. In this situation you are just picking which of the pre-existing products you want to white label, and then creating your own brand around it. You will work on marketing, creating a logo, packaging, etc. The downside of course is that you have to find a product you feel comfortable with the quality of to attach your name and reputation to, as you aren’t able to modify it.   


If you elect to formulate your own product from scratch, you will find a company that does this and work with them to create a product that has the ingredients that you want it to have. They can help you test it, take care of the legal pieces, and create a go to market plan. The downside here is that it is going to be more expensive to do it this way (likely 5 figures per product), and will take a lot longer to get the product from an ideation stage to a point where you can actually sell it.


Your key to success, either way, will likely rest on how strong of a brand you have and how much people trust your product, so you’ll be wanting to work on your branding regardless.


You can also create medical devices related to skin care. This is a more extensive process that is a labor of love, but has the potential for massive profitability if truly innovative and adopted at scale.


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Clinical research


Clinical research offers dermatologists the opportunity to stay on the cutting edge of research and to contribute to medical advancements, while providing an ancillary income for you or your private practice. While clinical research is often established at academic institutions, interest in establishing research at private practices has been increasing globally. With a high volume of patients with common conditions, dermatology practices may be an excellent site for trials for pharmaceutical companies, light-based therapy technologies, injectables, and more.


Physicians in private practice can establish a research site at their practice and operate as the principal investigator (PI). This side gig can take a while to get set up, and may require some upfront investment into staffing and space, but can offer higher revenue potentials. Physicians can also work for a company as a PI or sub-investigator to manage an established site for a third party.


Compensation varies depending on the specific study as well as your setup, but this side gig can be a highly lucrative opportunity while also providing your patients with additional therapeutic options to combat their health issues.




Speaking


For dermatologists without a fear of public speaking, speaking engagements can be a way to put your medical knowledge and expertise to work in a unique setting. Speaking opportunities also provide entrepreneurial physicians with connections and avenues to explore additional side gigs in the future, such as advisory positions, brand ambassadorships, and more.


Speaking engagements for dermatologists come in many forms, including talks for consumer brands, pharmaceutical speaking, industry conferences, and continuing medical education (CME) talks. Each of these pay differently and may fulfill different objectives for you personally and professionally.


Since many dermatologists are approached by pharmaceutical companies that have cosmetic arms related to injections and consumer facing products, we’ll focus in on that briefly. As the pharma industry is regulated, these talks are usually structured around approved content, and pharmaceutical companies usually have guidelines that speakers must follow, as well as standards for speaking fees, which often must be comparable to “fair market value.” As such, you may not be capped on earnings in this space in a way you may not if you were working with an individual consumer facing company like a popular drugstore brand. That said, industry regulations can cut down on the preparation (and thus opportunity cost) as companies often provide talking points and help handle arrangements for you.


Speaking gigs can help you build credibility as a subject matter expert in your niche of interest, and events can help you network, opening up the potential for other potential opportunities in the future.


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Influencer teaching about skin & beauty


An increasingly popular opportunity for dermatologists with excellent communication skills and a passion for education is to become an influencer through social media outlets and other avenues such as a podcast or YouTube channel. With the amount of misinformation in this space from non-physicians, consumers are looking for trusted, reliable insights into their skincare. 


Given the large number of social media options and tools to help build your platform, there’s never been an easier time to share your expertise, whether you want to tackle scientific tips for anti-aging or to help teenagers and adults alike battle their acne. A variety of options exist, so choose a topic you’re passionate and knowledgeable about.


As an influencer, you will need to build a brand. This requires a lot of upfront effort at the beginning in hopes that the opportunity cost will be offset once you can monetize your work after establishing a following. Revenue can come in many forms, such as sponsored content, paid ad placements, affiliate links, and brand partnerships. Building a social media presence around quality medical education can also build credibility as an expert in your niche and attract offers for additional opportunities such as speaking engagements and can give you a mountain of content to build courses on that you can then monetize.


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Consulting and startup advising


Consulting is a popular side gig opportunity across specialties, and dermatology is no exception. There are so many companies looking to build in this space as the medical aesthetics continues to grow. Everyone from pharmaceutical companies to cosmetic brands to digital health tech startups and medical device companies are more looking for expert opinions and feedback. As such, numerous consulting opportunities exist for dermatologists.


The commitment and scope of these opportunities can vary quite a bit, as can the payment. Some examples include simply being available for one-time discussions to give specific feedback, a short-term opportunity to help a company during a specific stage of development, or an ongoing opportunity through a larger role as an expert medical advisor or board member to a company. Compensation can be on an hourly or per-project basis, be a set salary, or even offer equity in the company. The larger the role, the greater the time commitment, but flexible opportunities exist for dermatologists looking for remote opportunities for only an hour or two. Some will be highly lucrative and rival or surpass your clinical compensation, whereas others you may see as a stepping stone professionally or an opportunity to help shape the field.


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Training others in aesthetic injections


Demand for cosmetic procedures has boomed in recent times, providing a unique side gig opportunity for dermatologists. Not only can you offer injections at your private practice to add an additional revenue stream, you can help train others to do so as well. There are so many looking to get into the aesthetics space, whether they be other physicians, other clinicians such as NPs or PAs, or aestheticians.


Note that many dermatologists have mixed views towards training others to do a skill that took them years to master in residency, so you will have to reconcile how you feel about others offering these services. However, many dermatologists feel that they want to help make sure that others offering these services are doing so in a safe way. You can choose who you want to teach. For example, you may choose to mainly teach others who are working under the supervision of a physician.


Many manufacturers of popular injectables need physicians to help them train other clinicians, and dermatologists will work for those manufacturer bootcamps or training sessions. Other physicians will choose to host their own group workshops or in-house training.


If you enjoy doing injections and are looking for a side gig that can really grow and scale, you may want to consider running a med spa yourself instead.



Running a medical spa


Aesthetic services are in high demand and many physicians are interested in pursuing them as a side gig. Dermatologists are well positioned to own and run a med spa, as this is very much their lane, and the cash pay nature of services can be highly appealing. In addition to the class injectables of Botox and filler, med spas can provide revenue from additional services ranging from massages to skincare product sales. These can all be highly lucrative.It is important to know that there are many pros and cons of the med spa industry, particularly as it has become more competitive. Additionally, aesthetics are often highly influenced by market forces, and may not be the best business in a recession type scenario.


Dermatologists who don’t have the time to commit to opening and running a med spa can also consider helping manage an existing or upcoming med spa. We warn doctors to err on the side of caution, however, when asked to be a medical director for a med spa owned by a PA or NP. Physicians are often required to assume liability and risk for practitioners who can’t practice independently in these situations, which may not be worth the potential upsides the opportunity offers.


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Chart review and expert witness work


Chart review and expert witness work are side gigs that allow dermatologists to leverage their clinical expertise outside of a clinical setting. These opportunities typically involve reviewing medical records and providing opinions for groups such as law firms, insurance companies, and utilization review companies. Cases dermatologists are consulted on include misdiagnosis of skin cancers, complications from cosmetic procedures, and adverse effects from pharmaceutical and skincare products, just to name a few.


These opportunities are often offered on a case-by-case basis, providing dermatologists flexibility in how much they want to work. A lot of this work can be done remotely with flexible scheduling as well, though some such as independent medical evaluations (IMEs) and expert witness work, can have in-person components.


While chart review and expert witness work might not offer rates comparable to your clinical work, they can still be highly lucrative opportunities that let you grow your skillset as a doctor.


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Medical writing


Medical writing can be a great side gig opportunity for dermatologists interested in education and that prefer pens to podiums. Writing is another flexible side gig that can often be done on a piece by piece basis, with companies paying per word or per article. Many companies are looking for content for their blogs, and this could be an easy way for dermatologists to use their expertise to help patients better understand concepts in dermatology.


Doctors looking to build their writing into a brand might consider starting an educational blog themselves and leveraging it along with building up an audience as an influencer. 


Opportunities exist to publish educational books as well, especially once you’ve established yourself in the industry, under your name or as a ghostwriter. You may want to offer technical editing services for publications as well as writing.


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Non-medical side gigs and businesses


Given how lucrative dermatology is, as well as the fact that it tends to be a more lifestyle friendly specialty, dermatologists may find that they have more time and investment capital to engage in non-medical businesses as well.


Examples that dermatologist members of our physician community have engaged in completely outside of medicine include: 




Additional side hustle resources for dermatologists


While we’ve outlined above some common side gig ideas for dermatologists, there’s always room for creativity. If there’s something you’re passionate about and good at, look for ways to monetize it.


Dive deeper into some of the side gigs featured above, including:


Need inspiration? Join our Physician Side Gigs Facebook group and ask other dermatologists what they’ve enjoyed as their side gig.


You can also explore the following to learn more about our:

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