Around 36% of physicians earned income from an employment source outside of their practice in 2023, the highest number in five years, according to Medical Economics' 2024 Physician Report published Aug. 14.
In 2022, 34% of physicians had a side gig, up from 31% in 2021.The most popular sources of side gigs for physicians include consulting, medical administrator and clinic work.
Internal medicine physicians had the highest amount of average secondary income in 2023, with $60,000. Second, was family medicine, who had an average of $54,000.
The increase of physicians looking to side hustles comes as CMS pay continues to decline. Medicare physician payments have declined 29% since 2001, when adjusted for inflation, according to the American Medical Association.
At the same time, practice costs are skyrocketing. Medical and surgical supply costs faced by practices per full-time physician increased 82% from 2022 to 2023, according to a report released from the Medical Group Management Association.
Physician pay cuts will likely continue — CMS released its annual proposed changes to the physician fee schedule for 2025 on July 10, which includes a proposed 93 cent (2.8%) conversion factor decrease from 2024.
"The decision of physicians to engage in a side gig to supplement their income is obviously a personal decision and could result from a variety of factors," Todd Harburn, DO, orthopedic sports medicine surgery specialist in Mackinaw City, Mich., told Becker's. "One example could be the amount of debt from their undergraduate and medical school educations, such as when post-graduate medical resident physicians engage in medical moonlighting opportunities (when legal, of course). Another reason could be the need to meet the basic cost of living in one's particular region of the country where they have been hired (or chosen) to establish their practice."