Doctor, look out for these great moonlighting opportunities in 2021

As much of the country finds itself in the grips of the COVID pandemic, frontline physicians—especially in certain specialties including emergency, internal medicine, and pulmonary/critical—are pretty much rushed off their feet. When it comes to imagining opportunities outside of the acute care setting, this may seem unimaginable to a lot of doctors right now. The reality however is, that the curve will flatten and tail off as Spring and Summer approaches.

The last 10 months has changed healthcare in unforeseen ways, and even if and when the pandemic is declared “over”—the way doctors work is likely changed forever. Telemedicine is the primary driver of this, and despite not exponentially increasing at the rate it was last April, it’s very much here to stay, and a large proportion of patients will be utilizing it.

Many physicians have already joined one of the numerous telehealth companies out there on a part-time basis and are finding that working from the comfort of their home office, is a very attractive and lucrative option for days off, evenings, and weekends. If you see yourself trying this out, start doing your research now—because it can take several weeks to get credentialed with any company.

If you are looking for non-clinical work, some of the plethora of opportunities that exist for clinicians include: insurance, level of care, and pharmaceutical or technology company roles (many of these companies offer lucrative part-time gigs for simply being in an advisory capacity).

If you have longer blocks of time away from your regular clinical work—there are still numerous smaller facilities in most parts of the country that will happily have you on their staff if you can offer regular coverage commitments (and pay you a good premium for that).

However you decide to proceed, we always advise you seek out these opportunities without going through the outrageously expensive third-party recruiter or agency. Utilize your skills in a flexible environment, take advantage of the supply-demand mismatch in healthcare, and get the best possible deal for your skills this year.

Suneel Dhand MD is an internal medicine physician, author and speaker. He is the cofounder of DocsDox (www.DocsDox.com), a service that helps physicians find local moonlighting and per diem opportunities, bypassing the expensive middleman.