22 Alternative Income Opportunities for Doctors (especially in Nigeria).

Practicing Medicine in Nigeria

In Nigeria, income opportunities are few and far between. As a doctor practicing in Nigeria, It goes without saying that you cannot survive only on your salary. This is one major cause of the mass exodus of doctors outside the country. When you investigate what doctors earn outside the country compared to what Nigerian doctors earn you can easily understand why.

However, not everyone can run away, and some still have to survive while plotting a way to run away. So here are 22 alternative income opportunities.

22 Alternative Income Opportunities

1. Organise career or Health talks for schools, religious organizations, corporate organizations etc. Examples of evergreen topics include stress, diabetes, Prostate health (for men), Menopause (elderly women)
2. Be a regular guest on health related radio and Tv shows, from there you may get your own show and make money.
3. Reach out to NGOs. Having a doctor on their team will be mutually beneficial and boost their credibility
4. Help Pharmaceutical companies review drugs or present drugs or products to hospitals in your spare time
5. Be a distributor for a health related product e.g. BP machines, scrubs, glasses, fit-bit, pulse auximeter etc
6. Be a health correspondent for a TV, newspaper or magazine
7. Hone your ECG reading skills. You can get paid by laboratories for interpreting ECGs
8. Organise Health outreaches for organizations e.g Political campaigns. You only need some colleagues to help out, a few blood pressure monitors and a glucometer.
9. Be a personal physician to a loaded client. You can reach out to your old patients, family or friends for contacts
10. Start home services.
11. Instead of doing free consultations on the phone, monetise it. Service can be mobile, video, sms, whatsapp, facebook etc. Refer anyone that asks for free consultation here.
12. Find a way to get paid more at current job. Speak to your MD about organising fitness classes for staff etc.
13. Put your twitter and instagram to business use. You can endorse products, places and services. You don’t need large followers for this.
14. Start a partnership with any of your friends inside or outside medicine. Reach out, don’t be an island
15. Volunteer – for churches, NGOs etc. You get to meet great people who can give you worthy introductions.
16. Accompany patients going abroad for medical procedures.
17. This is not yet an industry but you can be a medical consultant and advise novelists, TV shows, Nollywood etc on medical content for their shows
18. Link with app developers or start your own app to solve a peculiar health situation e.g. Doctor – patient appointments, referral systems, bed space issues
19. Write daily health sms tips for phone services
20. Teach part time. You have a science degree don’t you?
21. Get paid for private referrals to hospitals and labs when you get new clients for them.
22. A drug company gives you a free ward/lab coat with their company name or logo emblazoned on it. Don’t be happy. You are actually giving them free advertisement. Think of NIKE and Usain Bolt. Can you monetise this?

What are your thoughts on this?