#142 Why Physicians Are Turning To Side Hustles

Hey, everyone, it's Peter. This week we're going to try to answer the question, why are so many physicians turning to side hustles? So stay tuned and enjoy. Welcome to the Passive Income MD Podcast, where we talk about creating your ideal life through multiple streams of income. I'm your host, Peter Kim. If you enjoy hearing about this stuff, make sure to hit subscribe so I can bring it to you every week. Now, let's get on with the show. Well, a few years ago, actually more like seven or eight years ago, I decided to start a business. And that was on top of being an attending. I remember letting my father know about it, and I still remember what he said. He said, you're a doctor, focus on being a doctor. Why would you ever want to do something else besides being a physician? I think he was worried about me. I think he was worried that I was tossing aside all of those years of education, training and focus and everything I was planning to do, that I was tossing all of aside to start a business. And I assured him, no, this is something I'm going to do just as an additional thing in my spare time on the side, just something that was there to scratch my creative itch. It's something I had always been thinking about, especially growing up in college. I always had some sort of entrepreneurial itch and this was some way for me to kind of get that creative outlet going. Well, that site business started to grow. It was a business called Curbside Real Estate. It started creating some real income. It led to some other ideas, some other opportunities. I even started a blog, many of you know, a blog called Passive Income md which became a business on its own. Well, these businesses started growing. The income started growing. The time that I had to spend putting into it started growing. Well, I really started enjoying it. My father, he was a physician, but he grew up in a different time. He came up and practiced in a completely different time in the 80s. Many of us see that as the golden age of medicine for many reasons. Even he will admit that it's different times today when he go through it again, he's not exactly sure. He admits that in the last 10 years, what's changed in medicine, it's probably changed more than it has in the last 40 years. The pathway used to be super clear. Study hard, focus, focus on the right things, and you're going to be really rewarded in life later on. Unfortunately, those same rules don't seem to apply to physicians today. We all know what some of those reasons are, like high student loan debt, change in Autonomy, change in the corporatization of medicine, the way private equity or hospitals have taken over again, in some ways, the death of private practice in many areas, our autonomy, the way reimbursements and insurance is happening, and just the political environment behind medicine. However, it might feel like we're the only ones affected, but other professions have been affected as well. I mean, technology, politics, regulations, it affects people in all professions. But doctors, we seem to feel it a lot. We simply can't practice and thrive in the same way that previous generations, the way they did it. So as a result of this, many physicians are looking for other solutions. After all, we are problem solvers. We do that in our daily lives. So we're trying to apply that to our lives as well. So many people have figured out there must be a different way to create income, create flexibility, create freedom. We're going to talk about all these reasons here shortly. So the first reason why many physicians are turning to side hustles is for extra income. As we know the lives of physicians today, it's not the same as it used to be. To the outside world, it may seem like we're all set or things aren't different. But to us, we know this real situation. Dealing with rising student loan costs, decreasing salaries, or decreasing reimbursements, especially in high cost of living areas. All of this adds up to increased financial stress for physicians. There's also the matter of us getting settled financially later on in life than maybe our peers. How many of you had friends in college that started going out and making good incomes right out of college or right outside of early graduate school, going through medical school, going through residency, fellowship training? By the time we've started, many people and many of our peers have already gotten settled in life. They've already started saving, making good investments, building assets and their net worth, and we're just getting started. However, we've had to deal with delayed gratification. And so once we graduate, once we become an attending, we're trying to at least live a certain lifestyle that we want to finally enjoy. However, with the way things are currently in medicine, maybe you need that extra income. So many of us are using our skill sets, many of you are using our interests that we might have outside of medicine and figuring out ways to create income. Many of us are starting businesses, people are picking up case reviews, becoming expert witnesses, doing medical surveys, becoming consultants, whatever it might be, where they can leverage their medical degrees to create extra income. And again, they're using their skill sets outside of medicine to get that extra income. As well. Maybe they really enjoy things like real estate. They have a good eye for detail. And so maybe they're investing in real estate, trying to create income there. And that might be income that's a little bit more passive than some of those other side hustles. When you don't have to rely on your day job for all of your income, it provides a little bit of relief. Maybe you felt that before. I know many people have. And it helps you really enjoy your life in medicine even more when you're able to create extra income from these side hustles. Number two, maybe they're trying to scratch that creative itch. People often look at doctors as one dimensional type people. They look at us and we, they look at our degrees. We are doctors. What we do day in, day out is probably most of our identity and how we spend our time. And we've dedicated so much of our lives to getting where we're at and focused on one specialty or one area of expertise. But that doesn't mean that's the only talent we have or the only abilities that we have. Many of us don't have the time or just haven't had the time to pursue those other interests. But there are some people that are able to do that. Take those outside interests, those hobbies, whatever it might be, their skills or talents outside of medicine, and make extra income from it. That's like a bonus. These physicians are doing really creative things. Like some are artists, some are writing, some are playing music and creating music. Taking all of these creative outlets and talents that they have to create extra income is fun for people. And maybe it uses a different side of the brain for them. Many people see it as therapy. The money is important for sure. But to many of these people, the reason they're doing a side hustle is for that creative outlet. And that can mean a lot to many people. All right, next. Maybe people have a side hustle because they want the diversification and they want that hedge or security from that. I've learned that medicine doesn't quite have the security in that job that it once might have had. Especially if anything the last couple years have taught us is that things can change drastically with the corporatization of medicine, right? Businesses, private equity coming in and taking over medical practices, that has changed a lot of things. Big institutions and academic institutions taking over smaller private practices, that has changed things. I've heard of situations even in my own field of anesthesia where people and groups were taken over and people are expected to take a 30% pay cut over the weekend. I mean, they had to sign this paperwork and either they could take it or they had to leave. These things were probably unheard of 20, 30 years ago. I know what some people are saying. There's a physician shortage. People will always find jobs, but it might not be where you want it to be. Maybe you establish a community somewhere, your kids are in school. You don't just get up and uproot them and move to a small, remote area, maybe where you don't have a community of friends or want to live in that particular area. So many physicians understand the importance of building up that extra income for this diversification, for this financial hedge. If something were to happen to them where they either lost their job or their job terms changed, maybe the income is less. They could actually sustain that and be okay with it. When all of us invest, we talk about diversification. We don't put all our eggs in one basket. But when it comes to our income, how many of us are actually doing that with our doctor income? We're relying on it 100% to sustain the lifestyle that we have and or the lifestyle that we want. So what do many people do? They create businesses, they invest in real estate, they create cash flow so they can pay for their expenses outside of medicine. The beautiful thing about creating that extra income stream, again, you don't have to rely on medicine 100%. And that can be a powerful thing. When things change in this world, and we all know things will change, there's something powerful to having that financial security. Some physicians are creating extra income because they're planning their exit. We've all probably heard a ton about burnout today. The number of physicians that experience burnout on a daily basis, some say up to 50%, experience signs and symptoms of burnout. I don't know exactly what the numbers are in your field. I think it is very field dependent, but there's no doubt that it is is something that is part of our culture today, especially in medicine. There's so many reasons behind it. I don't want to simplify things, but one of the large reasons and one of the big reasons is that people feel trapped in their current situation. Things have changed for the worse and people feel powerless. Many of them would love to leave their current situation, but they just can't do it financially. They can't take that risk. This is especially for people that want to leave medicine. Maybe they've had a good career or maybe they've had enough time at it and they want to transition into something else. So Many people build up that side hustle, invest in real estate again, create extra additional cash flow, knowing that there is an exit for them sometime. Maybe it's not a full time exit, maybe it's a part time exit, but they want to change what the time looks like that they spend in medicine today. The ability to work as much as you want, how you want, where you want, I think that has a lot to do with burnout. And so changing that situation can really alleviate some of those symptoms for some people. The hope is that many people reconnect to that passion that led them to medicine in the first place. Being able to practice when you want on their own terms, it might change the way they look at the job and profession. And that's the hope. So as you can guess, I'm a big fan of the side hustle. There are so many amazing benefits that come along with it. We've even created a list for many physicians called the List of Physician side Hustles. You can Google it, it's on our site, Passive Income md. We talk about it a ton on our communities. If you're a physician, you should absolutely think about joining Passive income docs. We talk about different side hustles, different opportunities to create extra income. The more we can help each other, come up with ideas, share resources, the better off we'll be as a community. If you want to work part time or you want to change the way your practice is, if you want to change the way you accept insurance, if you want to change where you practice, how much you practice, whether you want to take call or not, all of these things can be made possible by creating that income outside of medicine, by having that side hustle. The funny thing is many finance. The funny thing is many physicians that are totally financially free, you know, what do I see from them? They actually continue to practice medicine. Maybe they don't work as hard or as much as they did before, but they still continue to give back because it's something that they were passionate about when they first started and they were able to reconnect to that. The hope is that you practice medicine on your own terms, that you enjoy it and you do it because you're passionate about it and you want to really serve others. It's all about having the ability to choose again. That's my hope for anybody who's watching or listening to this, that you have the choice to live life on your own terms. A lot of great things have happened for me. I'm still constantly learning, but a lot of that has to do with the side hustles that eventually became main hustles and main businesses for me. It's funny now when I talk to my father, he comes back and he asked me constantly, how are those businesses doing? It's funny to see it all come full cycle. Let us know how we can continue to support you. Talk again soon. Enjoy the show. Let me know by dropping a review in the podcast app. You're listening to us in the and if you haven't already, make sure to hit subscribe. Are you a part of our community yet? Join thousands of physicians who are also on this journey to creating their ideal lives through multiple streams of income. You can join us on our Facebook group Passive Income Docs, and you can always learn more at our website, passiveincomemd.com thanks again for allowing me to be a part of your journey. See you next time.