12 Best Side Hustles for Pharmacists

Earning potential: $50–$150 per hour

What it is and how it works: Consultant pharmacists provide expert medical advice on a wide range of pharmaceutical topics, such as medication management, drug interactions, and optimal patient care.

In this role, you’ll frequently visit healthcare facilities, including clinics, that don’t have their own in-house pharmacists. You’ll review patient charts and inspect the facilities they use for storing and dispensing medication, signing off on everything if you determine it’s in order and pointing out areas that need improvement if it isn’t.

Why you should do it: Years of training and practical experience qualify you for this gig. It often has flexible hours, since you can take on exactly as much consulting work as you want, and many pharmacists find it lower-stress than in-house or retail pharmacy work because you generally won’t be directly responsible for providing medication to patients.

How to get started: Several prominent pharmacy organizations have career centers that can help you find work as a consultant, including:

• American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP)
• American Pharmacists Association (APhA)
• American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP)

Earning potential: $50–$85 per hour

What it is and how it works: A telepharmacist acts much like an on-site pharmacist, but delivers their services remotely. They verify prescriptions, offer medical advice (without giving diagnoses), and consult with other healthcare professionals about drug interactions, dosage, and the side effects of medication.

Why you should do it: Working remotely means you don’t have to worry about commuting, which makes this gig relatively easy to juggle with a traditional full-time pharmacy job. It also gives you the chance to broaden your network beyond your geographic location.

This role can also be personally fulfilling—you’ll have the satisfaction of giving people in remote and underserved areas access to pharmaceutical advice.

How to get started: Depending on where you work, your current company might offer in-house telepharmacy opportunities. You can also put out feelers on your professional network.

Here again, the AACP, APhA and ASCP may post telepharmacy roles, and job boards like ZipRecruiter, Indeed, and FlexJobs sometimes advertise remote pharmaceutical positions. Start your search on FlexJobs—it’s devoted to remote and flex-time work, so many of the roles on it make ideal side hustles.

Earning potential: $50–$150 per hour

What is it and how it works: Medical writers compose different types of medical content, such as drug monographs, research articles, regulatory documentation, and educational materials. They communicate complex medical and pharmaceutical concepts, both to healthcare professionals and to the public.

Why you should do it: If you have a flair for writing, then creating medical content is a great way to use your wealth of knowledge while keeping up to date with new developments in the healthcare sector.

Many writing jobs can be done remotely and on a freelance basis, so this is great for those already working full-time.

How to get started: As an aspiring writer, you’ll need a portfolio that demonstrates your ability to write clearly and effectively. If you don’t already have work to show off, devote a couple of evenings to creating a few sample pieces in the niche you hope to work in.

The American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) sometimes posts articles about how to get into medical writing. If you become a member, you’ll also be able to access job listings and advertise yourself as a freelancer.

You can also find work on general-purpose freelance marketplaces, such as:

• Fiverr
• Upwork
• Freelancer

You can also contact pharmaceutical and healthcare companies to pitch your services. Working with clients directly will often net you higher rates than you can get on online job boards.

Earning potential: $15–$30 per hour

What it is and how it works: Medical transcriptionists take voice-recorded medical reports from healthcare providers and convert them into written records. These may be used by other healthcare providers, insurance companies, or the patients themselves.

To succeed as a transcriptionist, you’ll need to be quick with a keyboard (you should be able to type 40–50 words per minute at a minimum). You’ll need to take steps to make sure you store your transcripts safely so that you don’t violate patient confidentiality.

Why you should do it: Although this doesn’t pay quite as well as some of the other jobs on this list, it’s a low-stress and relatively reliable way for you to make extra money on the side.

As you’re already familiar with medical terminology and used to working responsibly with patients’ sensitive information, you’ll have a big advantage when it comes to landing this type of work.

How to get started: Before you begin, it might be worth getting certified in healthcare documentation by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), although that isn’t a hard requirement.

Once you’re ready to look for work, you can do so on the freelance job boards we mentioned above. You can also put out the word on your personal network that you’re interested in transcription jobs.

Earning potential: $20–$50 per hour

What it is and how it works: Medical reviewers evaluate medical documents for accuracy and regulatory compliance. The files they look at can include:

• Patient records
• Clinical trial protocols or data
• Medical insurance paperwork

Reviewers need to check their documents meticulously and alert their supervisors to any errors or inconsistencies.

Why should you do it: Again, you’re already well-versed in medical terminology. Moreover, you’ve been trained to spot errors made by physicians and other healthcare providers.

Medical review is a very common side hustle for other healthcare professionals, such as doctors and nurses, and as a pharmacist, it’s a natural fit for you, too.

How to get started: Medical and pharmaceutical companies often have a roster of reviewers that they send work to every few weeks or months. Keep an eye out on job boards like Indeed for openings. Of course, it never hurts to ask around—your colleagues might be able to point you in the right direction.

Earning potential: $20–$50 per hour, plus commissions

What it is and how it works: As a pharmaceutical sales rep, you’ll promote and sell products to healthcare providers, pharmacies, or medical facilities.

This means educating them about the benefits, usage, and safety guidelines of different medications, as well as building relationships with corporate and private clients and helping healthcare providers meet their sales targets.

Why you should do it: With high potential earnings from commissions and other benefits, a job in pharmaceutical sales is one of the most lucrative side hustles you can take on.

Chances are, you already have a strong network of potential clients from your work as a pharmacist. Your industry expertise will give you an advantage here—most pharmaceutical sales reps don’t have degrees in the field, so physicians may be more inclined to trust you.

With all of that said, you should be aware that this job often involves a lot of travel (although these days, some pharmaceutical sales can be conducted virtually). This gig isn’t the easiest to pursue as a true side hustle; you may eventually have to choose between it and your primary career.

How to get started: Try reaching out to pharmaceutical or medical companies and see if there are any available sales positions. Failing that, you can also sometimes find part-time sales jobs on all the usual job boards. Be sure to research each company before you apply to make sure it’s a good fit.

Earning potential: $15–$30 per hour

What it is and how it works: Nutritional counseling means advising people about food, diets, and healthy eating habits.

You’ll help your clients come up with personalized plans and educate them about the role their diet has on their health, including how it may affect any preexisting conditions they have, for better or worse.

Why you should do it: You’ve extensively studied biochemistry and the human body. Nutritional consulting has a lot of overlap with your primary field.

Don’t discount the customer service skills you’ve acquired as a pharmacist, either. Dealing with patients and offering tailored advice will give you a leg up when it comes to counseling your clients.

How to get started: You may be able to find opportunities for part-time nutritional counseling in hospitals, community centers, and fitness centers. You can also use online platforms, such as Vida or Coach.me, to find remote nutritional counseling and coaching work.

Earning potential: $15–$75 per hour (depending on the role)

What it is and how it works: There are many teaching opportunities available for pharmacists, including:

• Lecturing in academia: You may be able to find work as a guest lecturer or adjunct faculty member at a nearby university or pharmacy college.
• Private tutoring: Every year, new pharmacy grads enter the field, and many of them are in the market for private lessons to help them prepare for their licensure and certification exams, such as the NAPLEX, MPJE, and PTCE.
• Preceptorship: As a preceptor, you’ll guide pharmacy students or residents, giving them hands-on experience in pharmacies, hospitals, or other clinical settings.

Why you should do it: Teaching can be a rewarding way to make money on the side, and it offers a lot of scheduling flexibility (at least when it comes to tutoring—lecturing in a university will require adhering to a fixed schedule).

Teaching is also a great way to build your network in both academia and the healthcare industry. Every student you help will become a potential future contact.

How to get started: You can get started with tutoring by advertising on social media platforms. There are also tutoring websites, such as Wyzant and Superprof, that can put you in touch with students, although they’ll take a cut of your earnings (25% and 10%, respectively).

If you’re interested in adjunct faculty or guest lecturer opportunities, try reaching out to local pharmacy schools or your former university.

Earning potential: Varies

What it is and how it works: Because pharmacists and other healthcare professionals have to stay up to date with developments in their field, they frequently have to attend seminars, lectures, and workshops to continue learning.

This gives you the opportunity to lead continuing education (CE) presentations, which may cover areas such as recent research, new medications, and updated regulations.

Why you should do it: One of the best ways to learn more about something is to teach it, and considering the importance of CE in evidence-based healthcare, this can be a great opportunity for professional development. Giving presentations at pharmaceutical conferences is also a great way to establish yourself as a leader in your field.

How to get started: The APhA and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) often host events with opportunities for presenting. You can also get in touch with online CE platforms, such as TRC Healthcare and FreeCE.

Be sure to update your CV with any public speaking experience you have. It doesn’t have to be extensive—if you were a TA in pharmacy school, for instance, that’s well worth mentioning.

Earning potential: Varies (often $60–$300 per hour)

What it is and how it works: This gig is exactly what it sounds like. You’ll get paid to participate in surveys and market research related to medicine and healthcare.

These are usually conducted by pharmaceutical companies, research firms, or other healthcare companies. They require expert participants, including pharmacists. Surveys may be conducted in person or online.

Why you should do it: Although this isn’t a consistent source of income, most paid surveys will take just a few hours of your time, so it’s an easy way to earn a bit of extra cash each month.

How to get started: There are many paid survey and market research platforms out there. Start by looking into:

• Sermo
• MD Analytics
• OpinionSite
• ZoomRX

Note that payment varies widely for online survey participation. Some platforms may just offer gift cards, not actual cash.

Earning potential: Varies depending on your business

What it is and how it works: If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, you can try starting your own business. The possibilities here are nearly endless: you could open a medical supplies store, sell health products and supplements, or start a pharmaceutical consultancy firm.

Why you should do it: There’s no better feeling than being your own boss and watching your business grow from the ground up. Of course, this is also undeniably risky; you should only do it if you’re confident in your idea and are comfortable with the possibility that your business might fail.

How to get started: The first step is to clarify your idea, do thorough market research in the area you want to focus on, and draw up a solid business plan.

You’ll need some start-up capital to get things off the ground. You may already know a few potential investors, but look up guides on how to start a small business in your chosen niche. The road ahead of you will be tough, but if you succeed, the rewards will be worth it. Good luck!

Earning potential: Widely varies (often $200–$800 per hour)

What it is and how it works: Being an expert witness means providing testimony or regulatory guidance in legal cases related to medication errors, drug liability, cases of malpractice, and pharmaceutical practice standards.

Why you should do it: This isn’t always a stable job, but when there’s work available, you’ll be compensated very well for your assistance.

This is also a great way to establish yourself as a high-profile name in your field and build connections in the legal sector.

How to get started: Start by signing up with the American Society for Pharmacy Law (ASPL). You can also sign up with SEAK, a directory for expert witnesses.

Consider talking to your primary employer as well. They may have a legal team that can offer you advice on how to find work in this niche.