PA Side Hustles: 8 Ways to Earn More, Ranked by Pay

Picking up extra shifts isn't the only way to earn more as a PA. Here's every option, what it really pays for your time, and how to land your first one.

The first time I got paid $1,500 to spend 90 minutes networking, eating a filet mignon and teaching colleagues about one of my favorite topics, I realized I had made an epic mistake.

For years I'd assumed "side hustle" meant low pay. I pictured dog walking or selling templates on Etsy. Nothing wrong with either, but neither pays more per hour than most PAs earn in clinic. So whenever I needed more income, I did the only thing I knew. I picked up extra shifts.

That dinner talk paid roughly 8 to 10 times what I earned in a typical clinical hour.

My guest on this week's episode knows this better than anyone. Erich Fogg has been a PA for 30 years. He's worked emergency medicine, directed a PA program, co-founded a CME company, served on the NCCPA board of directors, spent 23 years as an expert witness, and now runs Pathway to Pass, which helps PAs pass the PANCE and PANRE.

He averaged two or three expert witness cases a year. "It wasn't huge, but it was enough," he told me. Enough that his daughter finished college and grad school with zero student loan debt.

Watch the full breakdown

Should PAs get a side hustle or a raise first?

Get the raise first. Don't add hours before you've maximized your pay for the hours you already work. A negotiation or a job change adds income for zero extra time. Once your base pay is right, a side hustle stacks on top of it instead of covering for being underpaid.

Then find your yardstick: your clinical effective hourly rate.

Take your total annual compensation and divide it by every hour you work in a year. A "high salary" surgical job with 50+ hours a week of OR, clinic and call can pay less per hour than an urgent care job of three 12-hour shifts. Every side hustle below should beat that number.

What are the best side hustles for physician assistants?

The best PA side hustles pay for what you know, not for more hours on shift. Here's the full list, ranked by typical pay for your time. The ranges come from my book, The PA Millionaire Path, and vary by specialty, experience and market.

How do PAs become paid pharma or device speakers?

Most PAs get speaking roles through the industry reps who already cover their practice. I made a point to be engaged with the rep who covered our group: thoughtful questions, knowing the clinical data, real conversations instead of a quick pitch. One day he stopped me in the hospital hallway. His company needed a PA to educate other APPs. I said yes with no idea how industry worked. Knowing the medicine and the data turned out to be enough.

Talks range from dinner presentations with slides to casual lunch or coffee conversations and webinars. The company hands you its compliance rules; you follow them. If presenting to a room of 20 strangers gives you nightmares, this isn't your hustle.

How do PAs become expert witnesses?

PAs become expert witnesses by being visible as experts in their specialty and getting introduced to attorneys. In 2003, Erich was directing a PA program when an attorney from Chicago called. The attorney had searched for emergency medicine PAs, found a specialty society's conference agenda, saw Erich on the speaker list and called his university. Erich had never done expert work. He got coaching on what to charge from a mentor who did.

That first case went all the way to trial, and the defense won. Attorneys in the room noticed. With no advertising, it led to the next call, and the next. Over 23 years: 50+ cases, 30+ depositions and 11 trials.

Most of the work is record review and written reports from home. Depositions can be in person or virtual. Trials are rare, and that's where you earn the rate. "Sitting in a hot seat in front of a jury, in front of a judge… that will test your calmness for sure," Erich said. My own first case came through a PA mentor's introduction, and I joined APALM, the PA legal medicine group, for more exposure to attorneys.

Is CME a good side hustle for PAs?

Speaking at someone else's CME event is one of the best-paying teaching gigs, and owning a CME business has the most upside. A flat CME speaker fee is typically 3 to 10 times what academia pays for a lecture. Online CME has little overhead beyond the annual accreditation fee, usually a few thousand dollars, but you have to market it.

In-person conferences are a different animal. Erich co-founded a CME company that ran 80+ programs in 11 years. "Do you know that coffee costs like a hundred dollars a gallon in a hotel conference area?" he said. Room blocks you don't fill are on you, too.

Does teaching in a PA program pay well?

Academia is the lowest-paying side hustle per hour, but you can raise your effective rate. Erich and I both found a brand-new one-hour lecture takes four to six hours to prepare. Say a lecture pays $150. Three hours of prep plus an hour of teaching is $37.50 an hour. Write the outline yourself, let an AI tool turn it into clean slides, and prep drops to about an hour: $75 an hour. Teach the same lecture every year with a 15-minute update and it's $120 an hour.

The non-money rewards are real: authority that opens doors to speaking and consulting, and the chance to shape the profession. Erich trained when there were 52 PA programs. He counts about 330 now, and they all need faculty.

Are per diem shifts or locums worth it for PAs?

Per diem and locums are worth it only at the right rate. Moonlighting was Erich's first extra income, and it still works if you hold out for 1.5 to 2 times your base. If you're picking up shifts at $65 an hour, move on. For 1099 or locums work, the rule of thumb is about 120% of the W-2 equivalent, because you cover extra FICA tax, lose benefits and take on admin.

What about building your own business?

A longtime PA program director once called Erich about a student who had failed the PANCE with a 239. The cut score is 350. He taught her to read questions the way a test writer builds them, eight weekly sessions, and she improved 160 points. Word spread. As of our recording, he'd helped his 390th student pass. That's how Pathway to Pass started. (Affiliate link: Millionaires in Medicine may earn a commission.)

How do I land my first PA side hustle?

Your first side hustle will almost certainly come from a relationship. Look at how every story above started: a rep in a hallway, a conference speaker list, a mentor's introduction, a phone call from an old colleague. Erich calls it "opportunity begets opportunity."

1. 1

   Check your contract first

   Look for outside-work, moonlighting and non-compete language before you say yes to anything. Not sure what yours allows? Resolve reviews medical employment contracts; use code MIM15. (Affiliate link: Millionaires in Medicine may earn a commission.)

2. 2

   Always be learning

   After the first few years of pure clinical learning, Erich started learning business and investing too. Read, watch, challenge yourself.

3. 3

   Build mentors and a network

   "Can I buy you a cup of coffee? Can I pick your brain?" Volunteer for a committee, offer a guest lecture at your alma mater, and make your specialty obvious on LinkedIn.

4. 4

   Get support at home

   Side work means some trade-offs, like the occasional missed game. A supportive partner makes the rest possible.

5. 5

   Set up for 1099 income

   Most side hustles pay on a 1099. Track expenses from day one and ask a CPA about an LLC with an S corp election and a solo 401(k). WCG CPAs & Advisors works with medical professionals. (Referral partner: Millionaires in Medicine may be compensated.)

The bottom line

Side income can speed up debt payoff, grow your investments, or fund the things that matter most to you. Erich didn't upgrade his lifestyle to match his. He was intentional with it, and it paid for his daughter's degrees.

You don't need a master plan. Erich never had one. He took one step, which led to a connection, which led to the next thing. "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're probably right," he said, quoting Henry Ford. So take the first step.

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Questions and answers

Results vary. Past performance is not a guarantee. This article is educational content only, not individualized financial, tax or legal advice. Pay ranges are typical figures and vary by specialty, experience and market. Millionaires in Medicine does not manage money; it educates and empowers you to manage your own. Some links are affiliate or referral links, and Millionaires in Medicine may be compensated if you use them.