Where can physicians find side gigs?

Before you commit

1. Define the patient population, clinical duties and limits you will accept before contacting a hiring team.
2. Ask whether the assignment is clinical care, expert review, education or another function; avoid relying on the job title.
3. Obtain the contracting entity, work location and responsible onboarding contact in writing.
4. Confirm employer permission, privileges, coverage and required state authority before scheduling care.

Start with the work, not the listing

A useful search begins with the kind of responsibility you want to take on. Covering an inpatient service, seeing patients remotely, reviewing records and teaching all use medical expertise, but they do not create the same obligations. Write down the tasks you are willing to perform, the patients or subject matter you know well, and the schedule you can actually protect. That description makes conversations with potential employers more productive than a general request for extra work. It also helps you reject an attractive title when the actual duties extend beyond your experience or require availability you cannot reliably provide.

Use channels you can verify

Contact facilities where your specialty and experience fit, ask trusted professional contacts about coverage needs, and review an organization's own description of the role. Existing colleagues may be able to introduce you to a hiring contact, but an introduction is not confirmation that a position is available or approved. Ask who employs or contracts with you, which facility or service receives your work, and who can explain the application process. For remote or review work, establish the identity of the contracting organization and how records are handled. Do not send confidential patient material as an informal work sample or rely on a listing alone to establish legitimacy.

Turn an opportunity into a defined assignment

Before agreeing to cover anything, request a written description of duties, location, schedule, escalation support and onboarding requirements. A hospital's permission to work in your main role does not necessarily authorize a separate assignment, even within the same health system. Ask whether your existing privileges cover the proposed service and whether the outside organization requires its own credential review. If the role involves prescribing or patients in another state, confirm practice authority separately. Review the arrangement with your insurer and check your employment agreement for outside-work restrictions. These questions apply even when the person offering the work already knows you professionally.

Applying this to your situation

When you contact an organization, send a concise professional introduction describing the kind of assignment you are considering and your relevant experience. Ask for the person who can discuss clinical scope rather than forwarding sensitive credentials immediately. Keep a record of the questions you have asked and distinguish a possible introduction from a formal offer. If the opportunity evolves into a different service, restart the clinical-readiness discussion instead of relying on the original description. This approach keeps the search focused on verifiable work and gives you a consistent way to compare opportunities without assuming that any channel guarantees a suitable position.

Sources and scope

This qualitative checklist is not a statement of a particular board, facility, employer or insurer’s requirements. Confirm the current answer with the responsible organization for your proposed work.

Figures are from the cited source as published; check it for the latest.

General information, not legal, tax or insurance advice.