If you’re looking for a physical therapy side hustle, you’re in good company. Reimbursements are falling and pay is stagnant at best, and that means more and more clinicians are looking for additional work to help pay the bills.
A PT side hustle can help you diversify your skill set, advance your career, and make some money to help pay off loans!
We realize that each person reading this article will have different needs.
- Maybe you want an OT side hustle to help you pay off student debt.
- Perhaps you’re here because you’re a PTA wanting to fund additional education.
- Maybe you want a side gig to serve as a bridge to your non-clinical SLP career.
Whatever your reason for pursuing a side gig, you’re in the right place! We created this article to help you determine the best type of side hustle for you as you create your career goals for the year ahead. Each option has pros and cons, but we’re sure you’ll find a good option for whatever fits your needs!
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Top PT/OT/SLP side hustles
1. Digital entrepreneurship (blogging/online business)
Digital entrepreneurship can be a great side hustle for PT, OT, and SLP professionals alike. And, if you play your cards right, it can easily evolve to become your main job!
This type of work—which is often called blogging, online entrepreneurship, or simply being a “creator”— can be crafted around your lifestyle. This makes it very appealing for new parents and those looking to work for themselves in the long run.
An online business can be monetized in all sorts of ways. You can create online courses, sell products, become a coach or mentor within a niche, promote others’ goods/services as an affiliate, offer CEUs, or even consult within an area of expertise.
Pros:
- Passive income. Once you hit a certain point, your income is largely passive. There is no feeling quite like being at dinner and getting a notification that you just made money!
- Fulfillment. Running a business can give you a sense of purpose and agency. When people improve their lives as a result of your work, you’ll feel like a million bucks.
- Working from home. Working remotely as a PT/OT/SLP professional is still fairly uncommon. But running a therapy blog or online business is one of the few ways that you can work from home and make some money using your existing background!
- Integrity. One of the biggest perks of working for yourself is the fact that you only have to work with people you respect. You don’t have to be an affiliate for someone shady. You can create a business that reflects your own morals and values.
Cons:
- Requires patience. You will likely put in some time before you make a profit from a therapy blog.
- People don’t always “get it.” There will always be people who think you’re running an MLM or pyramid scheme. Even your own parents might not understand what, exactly, you do for a living. It’s normal, and you learn to live with the haters 🙂
- You’ll need more skills. You need to learn how to run a website and use sophisticated marketing techniques and tools. Learning these skills can be a fun challenge for most therapists.
2. Writing
Are you good at writing? Do you immediately spot grammatical errors when you’re reading? Maybe you’ve perused a boring brochure in a medical office and thought, “I could be a clinical writer!”
Perhaps it’s time to take the next step!
Working as a freelance writer can be satisfying, laid-back, and lucrative. If you love writing and you’re good at it—meaning you’re fast, adaptable, and produce high-quality work—you can make substantial side income as a writer.
Like digital entrepreneurship, you won’t make money from day one. It will take you some time to put together a writing portfolio (which usually requires doing some free or low-paid guest posts on other people’s websites). It will also take some time to get clients. However, once you do land clients and do a stellar job with them, word will get out. As long as you perform well, you’ll gain loyal clients while commanding higher pay over time.
Pros:
- Work from home. Working from home is magical. Doing so on your own schedule is even better. Writing almost never requires you to be onsite, so this is a great PT/OT/SLP side gig you can do from home.
- Assistants allowed. Many OTAs and PTAs have become successful clinical writers!
- Flexible hours. When you’re a freelance writer, your clients don’t care when you work, as long as you meet your deadlines.
- Can be a stepping stone to other options. If you’re a good writer, doors start to open. Whether you build your online business, lean into content strategy, or decide that working as a full-time clinical editor makes sense (and those are just a few options), you’ll have plenty of opportunities to move into other non-clinical roles.
Cons:
- Initial pay. While you can eventually build to demand high hourly writing rates, you’ll likely start with a lot of assignments for low (or even no) pay. It’s part of the process, and it can take awhile to get established enough to command high rates. But, once you can, the rates really are great!
- Clients sometimes come and go. It’s frustrating when you start getting used to a nice steady client, and then they no longer need you. That’s the name of the game as a freelance writer, though! It’s like being a PRN therapist, but in the content world.
- Competitive. Other people have started to figure out how awesome it is to be a writer, so there are plenty of folks out there doing it—so, you’ll need to stand out to make a real career of freelance writing. Pro tip: try looking for a physical therapy startup that needs content writers.
>> Check out our article about how to become a health content writer!
Learn how to land a writing job—and explore 26 additional career paths—in Non-Clinical 101!
3. Consulting
Consulting is a fantastic side hustle for the therapist or assistant with a specific skill set. For example, if you have extensive experience with gait training a post-CVA population, you might be able to consult with a rehab tech company or startup creating ambulation robotic devices for stroke patients.
Or, if you’ve done a lot of complex rehab compliance work during your career, you might be hired by other companies to do the same for them.
Pros:
- High hourly pay. Consultants typically make a nice hourly rate, as they’re hired for their highly specialized skills and experience. Companies will pay for the right fit in the right role. Non-Clinical 101 has resources to help you find your niche, identify clients, and set your rates to ensure you are compensated appropriately.
- Exciting work. Consulting roles are often a really nice change from the churn-and-burn nature of mill clinics and SNFs. And, with the gig economy in full swing, more and more companies are hiring consultants instead of using benefited employees.
- Can lead to full-time non-clinical work. Consultants are often recruited into companies to become full-time employees (assuming they’re doing a good job as consultants).
Learn how to land a consulting side job—and explore 26 additional career paths—in Non-Clinical 101!
Cons:
- Finding clients can be tough. Unless you have an existing niche or connection, finding your initial clients can be tough. A good website can help, as can very specialized experience with rehab tech, certain patient populations, etc. Non-Clinical 101 makes recommendations to help ease your transition into consulting work.
- State laws. Certain states have strange rules around working as a 1099 employee, so be sure to look into your own state’s regulations on consulting and contracting before you make any big moves.
4. Cash-based practice
A cash-based practice is a great side hustle for PTs who love treating, but also enjoy marketing (and, preferably, have some business acumen). If you have a specialized skill set or live in a locale with relatively well-off clients, you can really make good money this way.
The key to running a cash-based practice is to feel confident in your skills and recognize that patients can tell if you don’t really believe in your abilities. If you feel like a mediocre therapist, that’s OK! You might find that a different PT side hustle is a better fit for your needs. But if you truly believe you simply need to leave the confines of our broken healthcare system to get the results you want in your patients, cash-based practice might be for you!
Pros:
- You’re using your skills and education. Incidentally, cash-based PT is actually a great side hustle for occupational, speech, and physical therapists who take full-time non-clinical jobs! It’s a way to keep treating and keep your skills fresh, without working in those burnout-inducing patient mills.
- Can be lucrative. Cash-based OT, PT, and SLP practices can be super lucrative because you’re not beholden to insurance reimbursements and you don’t have to spend all that time on documentation.
- Avoiding insurance. If your only real beef with patient care is treating to insurance companies’ irrational whims, cash-based PT can be a great option for you!
Cons:
- You’ll work a LOT. The sad fact for most cash-based practices is that you’ll work a lot more than you think. Plenty of people sell the idea of cash therapy as a panacea for more time, freedom, and money, but you’ll most likely spend lots of long, unpaid hours coming up with marketing strategies and balancing the books. After all, clinical documentation is time-consuming, but there’s much more that goes into running a practice than evals and notes!
- It’s still patient care. If you’re on this site, chances are that you don’t want to treat patients anymore. You’re probably more interested in leaving patient care altogether. If you’re burned out because you simply don’t like patient care, switching to a new payment model probably won’t solve things. Plus, just like regular clinical roles, if you’re an assistant, you might find ownership limiting on some levels.
- It can cost more upfront than you’d like. From independent malpractice coverage to website maintenance fees, the costs of running a cash practice can be prohibitive for someone simply looking for a small PT/OT/SLP side hustle.
5. Telehealth
If you’re looking for a side hustle that pays well from day one and doesn’t require you to learn a ton of new skills right away, don’t sleep on telehealth!
While it can be competitive to land a full-time teletherapy job, PRN and part-time telehealth roles are much easier to find. Plus, these positions can often lead to full-time non-clinical work down the road.
Learn how to land a telehealth side gig—and explore 26 additional career paths—in Non-Clinical 101!
Pros:
- You’re using your skills and education. Telehealth is nearly the same as in-person care for certain patient populations. If you’re able to get good outcomes with your patients without relying on manual techniques, you might love a PRN teletherapy role to make some extra cash.
- Can be flexible. Just like in-person companies, many telehealth companies like having PRN telehealth clinicians on staff to work on weekends, handle patient overflow, and cover therapist absences. If you love the idea of filling therapy gaps in from time to time—but you don’t want to have to leave your house to do so—telehealth can be a great option for your side gig.
- Working from home. If you like treating patients but simply crave working from home when you do your side gig work, telehealth can help you make more money without having to leave the house!
Cons:
- You might not get much work. Just like regular PRN work, it can be feast or famine. You might find you get calls to work when you aren’t able to take the hours, and you might want hours during the times when there isn’t any work to be found.
- Can be challenging. Telehealth sounds great on paper, but it can be very frustrating when technology breaks mid-session, or when there’s a language barrier you didn’t expect, or when you’re unable to get the information you need from your patients in a virtual setting.
6. Instructor/Educator
Education can be a fabulous PT, OT, or SLP side gig for the right person!
People often assume that an education job means a stiff, formal, full-time job at a nearby PT, OT, or SLP school, but there are so many ways to teach without the commitment of full-time work. Whether you dream of teaching tomorrow’s esteemed doctoral-level clinicians or you like the idea of creating continuing education courses, you have options. You can even opt to tutor or teach at the community college level.
The key is understanding what you want out of a side gig and picking the type of work that fits those needs.
Pros:
- Fulfilling. Education, in any form, can feel extremely fulfilling and satisfying. The work itself can be very flexible for specific roles, too.
- Respectable pay. You might not make lottery-winning pay in these roles, but you can make enough to really put a dent in your expenses.
- Prestige. There’s a certain degree of prestige that comes from being in academia, and this might appeal to you!
Cons:
- Non-billable hours. While the pay for your actual work is typically substantial, these roles often come with non-billable time to consider. This time can decrease your pay substantially. For example, commuting to/from the nearby university might not be worth it if you’re on the road for 45 minutes each direction for a 2-hour lecture.
- Options are limited for assistants. You can still find work in education when you’re an assistant, but it is much harder to do. Your best bet will likely be in the continuing education space if you have a niche like vestibular or women’s health. If you have a master’s degree, you can teach at the PTA/OTA/SLPA level.
- Political. Academia can feel extremely political compared to normal clinical work.
7. Rehab Liaison
Rehab liaison is one of the most appealing non-clinical career paths. In fact, PTs, OTs, SLPs, and assistants alike have found happiness in this type of work. Rehab liaisons (sometimes called clinical liaisons) work for inpatient rehab facilities (IRFs). Their role is to get appropriate patients into beds, filling the census with people who will have good outcomes from their stays in the ARU (acute rehabilitation facility).
The best part is that you can often work PRN or part-time as a rehab liaison!
Pros:
- Easier on your body than patient care. Rehab liaisons have plenty of interaction with patients/families, as well as chances to collaborate on an interdisciplinary team. But the work doesn’t involve nearly as much physical demand as normal clinical work.
- Comparable pay. Most rehab liaison roles have pay that is on par with, or higher than, clinical work.
- Stimulating with tons of variety. These positions often have you doing wildly different tasks throughout the day. The roles are rarely boring.
Cons:
- Can be confusing when you’re PRN. There are lots of moving parts in this type of work. A full-time liaison is typically going to have an easier time keeping track of things than a PRN. It can be tough to feel like you’re fully caught up on all the cases when you’re only there some days.
- Require adaptability and local travel. These roles often involve local travel to facilities for marketing, patient interviews, and networking purposes. If you don’t like driving and being adaptable to a day’s changing needs, you won’t enjoy the work.
- Can have productivity quotas. While a rehab liaison side hustle won’t be as stressful as a full-time job, liaison roles can sometimes become tough when too much focus is put on filling the census quota.
8. PPS Coordinator
A Prospective Payment System (PPS) Coordinator manages and coordinates patient care from a financial perspective, particularly in the context of Medicare’s PPS for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs). PPS coordinators might be involved with anything from compliance to data management, and from care coordination to billing and reimbursement tasks.
These positions are often full-time, but you’ll sometimes find facilities looking for PRN or part-time PPS coordinators. This type of work is great for those with a background in inpatient rehab, as well as anyone familiar with behind-the-scenes rehab work like compliance and billing.
Pros:
- Comparable pay to clinical work. These jobs usually pay what clinicians make, and the pace tends to be more laid back!
- Very little upskilling needed. Most of the training for PPS coordinators will be done on the job!
- No travel required. While you do usually need to be onsite for this type of work, you don’t need to do any travel beyond getting to work.
Cons:
- Can be tough to find work. These jobs don’t come up too often. These tend to be pleasant and predictable jobs without too much stress—so clinicians who find them often keep them!
- Options are limited for assistants. You can still find work in this field when you’re an assistant, but roles generally go to therapists or nurses.
Not sure WHAT you want to do?
That’s where Non-Clinical 101 comes in! The hardest part of finding a PT, OT, or SLP side hustle isn’t getting the job. It’s figuring out what you want to do.
As long as what you pick fits your life and career goals, you can make it happen. But if you jump blindly into something without thinking about what you really want from the experience, you could actually wind up losing money.
This is especially true for side hustles that require lots of time or upskilling to get started (or ones where you don’t have the right background). And we’ve also heard stories of clinicians losing money because they don’t understand tax nuances around working as an independent contractor vs. an employee.
Our flagship course, Non-Clinical 101, was designed to help you approach your career swith a strategic mindset. You’ll discover your most marketable strengths and skills, and you’ll learn which job opportunities fit your experience and passions. Then, you’ll make a plan to get exactly where you want to be. And, yes, side hustles are a big part of making that happen!
What about you? Do you have a physical, occupational, or speech therapy side hustle? Are you a therapist or assistant? We’d love to hear how you make some side income! Please share in the comments!