top of page

Side Gigs for Physiatrists (PM&R)

Over the years, we’ve seen countless requests for side hustle ideas for doctors in specific specialties in our Physician Side Gigs Facebook group. We continue our series of unique side gigs by specialty with side gigs for physiatrists. If you aren’t in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) 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.


Unique side gigs for physical medicine & rehabilitation (PM&R) doctors (physiatrists) including medical surveys, consulting, running a pain clinic, and owning an ASC


Side gigs for physiatrists (PM&R doctors)


Disability & eligibility exams, including C&P exams for the VA and QME exams


If you prefer one-on-one patient interactions, there are clinical opportunities to explore as well, which can also add an additional revenue stream to your practice. This can be especially fitting for physicians who are just starting out in private practice and are building their patient roster, or for physicians who are looking to start scaling back with their practice but are looking for ways to continue to see patients in a more flexible arrangement. While not risk free (you’ll need some liability coverage), these opportunities can have lower malpractice liability risks than traditional clinical work.


Opportunities include:

  • Compensation & pension (C&P) exams for veterans

  • Social Security disability evaluations

  • Workers’ compensation assessments


Pay varies by specific opportunity, and there is typically some training involved (some of these trainings may offer CME). For workers’ compensation in California in particular, there’s a specific designation of Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) that requires a certification. Companies exist to help you find opportunities, walk you through required training, and assist with scheduling exams.


While many of these opportunities can require you to have your own office, per diem options at third-party sites and mobile opportunities also exist.


Related PSG resources:



Paid medical surveys


Doing paid medical surveys is perhaps the most flexible side gigs available for PM&R physicians to earn a little extra cash. Some surveys can be completed in as little as a few minutes. Organizations such as market research firms, pharmaceutical companies, and medical device manufacturers frequently seek insights on new products or to help assess trends. While these surveys don’t always offer the highest compensation, we’ve had several doctors in our online physician community report making 5-figure amounts annually when doing these surveys regularly.


Related PSG resources:



Consulting for pharmaceutical & medical device companies


Pharma and medical device companies are continually innovating in areas where PM&R physicians have expertise, such as pain and neuromuscular disorders. As a consultant, physiatrists can use their medical knowledge outside the clinical setting to help advance healthcare innovation. These opportunities are often flexible and can be lucrative, typically paying by the hour or per project. Some of these opportunities can require niche experience, but for many your skill set as a physician offers companies valuable insights.


These roles can include:

  • Advising on product design & development

  • Providing feedback on devices

  • Offering insights into marketability


Related PSG resources:



Health tech startup advising


If you’re looking to leverage your expertise in a more in-depth contribution to innovation, serving as an adviser to a health tech startup is another attractive side gig opportunity. These roles allow you to be involved in areas such as strategy and forward planning for development and go to market. Like consulting, these roles can be highly lucrative, though compensation is often structured differently. Many startups offer equity as part of the package, aligning your financial success with the company’s future growth you’re contributing to. While there’s a risk the startup you work with won’t make it to market or won’t perform well against competitors in the space, there can also be a huge potential upside if the company does well.


These roles can be harder to get than one-time or short-term consulting roles, and often come through word of mouth and networking. Attending a health tech conference can be a great way to learn about opportunities and to connect with companies seeking advisors.


Related PSG resources:



Expert witness work


Expert witness is another side gig that offers PM&R doctors the opportunity to use their existing clinical expertise in an exciting new way. In this work, physicians provide their expert medical opinions for legal cases.


This work can be lucrative and is often remote and flexible. The caveat here is if the case proceeds toward trial and you’re required to come in for a deposition or testimony (though this is uncommon and definitely not the norm).


Physicians in our community sometimes ask when assessing this side gig if they can work solely on the side of the defendant. Your track record as an expert witness may come up, and this can be a red flag that may discredit you, so we only recommend this work if you’re comfortable working for attorneys on either side of a legal case.


Related PSG resources:



Life care planning


A niche side hustle for physiatrists that can be quite fulfilling as well as lucrative is life care planning. Here, you use your medical expertise to help assess patients who have chronic or permanent disabilities and try to determine (to the best of your ability) what future needs that they will have from a medical, legal, and financial perspective. 


You often work with others such as lawyers, legal experts, elder care experts, or others to create a detailed document reporting requirements and recommendations for future care, finances, and services needed. This helps these patients secure the necessary support that they need to be able to live the best life possible with their condition.


While you may occasionally have to appear in person (such as in a courtroom setting depending on the scenario), much of this work can be done remotely from home. You can charge a few hundred dollars an hour, and each case can yield into the 5 figures. 


Many physicians like this because unlike medical expert witness work, you don’t have to testify against other physicians, just about what the patient’s needs are going forward. You can get into this line of work by networking with attorneys in the space or rehabilitation experts.



Offering concierge services (injections, functional medicine, acupuncture, etc.)


These services can go hand-and-hand with running a pain clinic, especially if you’re looking to add new revenue streams to your practice, but you certainly aren’t required to consider both. 


Concierge services allow you to expand your clinical practice on your terms with autonomy and flexibility, all without necessarily needing to deal with insurance companies. You can tailor your offerings (trigger point or joint injections versus functional medicine evaluations, etc.) based on your unique skill set and interests.


These services can be offered in small blocks of time around your existing schedule, and you can set your own pricing, though you’ll want to make sure you assess other practices offering similar services in your area so you price your services competitively.



Running a pain clinic


Pain medicine is a popular sub-specialization or area of niche expertise for physicians with PM&R training, and physiatrists thus hold a unique skill set for this particular side gig. If you’re looking to extend your clinical work, and to add a potential additional revenue stream to your practice, consider running a side or part-time pain clinic. You may be able to offer these services through your current space, or could consider renting out a space part time, or think about a hybrid telemedicine practice.


Related PSG resource:



Becoming an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) owner


This is another potential additional income stream for PM&R physicians to consider. It can be a relatively passive opportunity, though this depends on the amount of involvement in management that’s required. Buying into an ASC may also be contingent upon bringing in a certain volume of procedures to the center, so it’s important to review the specifics of the opportunity.


Compensation here can vary greatly depending on how much ownership stake you take and how the center is run. A larger stake requires a higher upfront investment but returns higher potential earnings in exchange. Review the financials for the center to help assess if a particular opportunity is the right one. You’ll want to look into aspects such as overhead costs and utilization rates to get a feel for if this will be a good investment opportunity.


Related PSG resource:



Working as a team doctor for a sports team


If you enjoy athletics, consider working with a sports team! This could include:

  • Collegiate sports teams

  • Club sports

  • Professional sports organizations

  • Community rec leagues


Not all opportunities pay the same, and some may be volunteer based versus paid. Others may be stipend based, paying a set fee per engagement or for coverage for a set season. This may not be the most lucrative side gig option, but can be a great fit if you enjoy watching sports and are looking for a new experience to shake up your regular clinic schedule. This side gig can also be a great way to network for other future opportunities as well.


Related PSG resource:



Offering personal training or sports performance


This is another great option for PM&R doctors who enjoy sports and working with athletes, but prefer a one-on-one, ongoing patient interaction. This can be a highly personalized side gig offering flexibility while allowing you to help clients improve their movement, strength, and performance.


While personal training may not be as lucrative as some of the other side gigs highlighted above, you may consider group sessions or specialty workshops, allowing you to have multiple clients at once to help increase your revenue.



Outpatient physical therapy or rehabilitation services


Another direct patient side gig, these services can help expand your clinical practice and practice's potential revenue. These options allow PM&R doctors to blend their diagnostic skills with hand-ons treatment, allowing you to assist in a patient’s recovery first hand as you guide their rehabilitation directly. This can be a great option for physiatrists who enjoy a close one-on-one patient relationship with follow ups throughout the process.


These services can also be flexible in how you structure them, including payment and scheduling. You may wish to contract with insurance companies to broaden your potential patient population, or you may prefer cash pay services to lower the administrative side of payments. (Or consider a hybrid of both!)



Becoming a skilled nursing facility (SNF) director


Serving as a skilled nursing facility director involves overseeing the quality of the medical and rehabilitation care at the facility. In this role, you typically work closely with therapists, nursing staff, and administrators to help optimize patient outcomes, maintain and improve clinical protocols, and ensure regulatory compliance. As such, this side gig is less patient focused and more leadership driven, though your role still helps impact the patient’s care under your direction.


Related PSG resource:



Providing prosthetics consultations


Providing prosthetics consultations includes working closely with amputees, prosthetists & rehab teams to optimize fit, function, and mobility. In this line of work, you may conduct gait evaluations, assist with prosthetic selection, and/or refine alignment. This can be a great way to engage directly with patients outside of a typical clinical relationship, and to help individuals adjust to a new way of life.



Additional side gig resources for PM&R doctors


While we’ve outlined above some common side gig ideas for physiatrists, 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:


Sign up for our free side gig matching databases (physician only) and our PSG weekly newsletter for alerts on side gig opportunities related to your interests.


Need inspiration? Join our Physician Side Gigs Facebook group and ask other PM&R doctors what they’ve enjoyed.


Explore and learn more about:

bottom of page