7 Business Ideas for Medical Students: A common concern for many pre-med and medical students is that they won’t be able to find jobs after they graduate and are licensed to practice medicine. While it’s true that competition can be fierce and that the job market can fluctuate greatly.
7 Business Ideas For Medical Students
With some creative problem solving, medical students can make money while they study, or even as they prepare to enter the workforce. If you’re looking for some ideas on how to bring in money while you get your MD, check out these seven business ideas geared toward medical students.
Idea #1: Create an Online Course
There are a number of successful and profitable businesses that started with just an idea to create a product that they would give away online. Maybe you’re not as interested in free training but rather selling what you can provide. So, if you have your heart set on creating something, why not create an online course?
Building a course on Udemy or Teachable is one of those great business ideas that take very little upfront investment yet offer up huge opportunities. For example, iMedicalApps reached over 1 million users by giving their courses away online—completely free. Think about whether you want to do it yourself or find someone who can help and then make it happen!
You don’t even need video capability (though that helps); putting together slideshows or other types of digital content can be equally compelling. Take stock of your skills and interests; there might be people out there who could really use them!
After all, think of Instagram; Kevin Systrom created something entirely new without having any background coding at all. Mobile apps may take longer than some other ventures listed here but remember that time = money.
If your time is worth $100/hour building an app in six months makes more sense than building three different revenue streams that each takes two years. Don’t forget about distribution either; like anything else, getting exposure is half the battle.
Idea #2: Provide Medical Services to Ex-pats in your Country
If you live in a country where there are a lot of ex-pats, there may be demand for your services. For example, if you live in UAE and speak Arabic, you could provide medical translation services to those who don’t speak Arabic but need to seek out medical attention.
You could also act as an agent between an ex-pat and their home country doctor by phoning their doctor back in their home country and translating on behalf of them. They will pay you (either directly or via your agency) as they want to keep costs down because they know they will end up paying higher fees otherwise due to high mobile calling rates.
This is not regulated in any way so you can charge whatever rate you think is fair. Just be sure that it is clearly stated that payment is required upfront before acting on anyone’s behalf, especially if they use your service abroad without traveling beforehand. Don’t promise anything unless you can follow through with it, even if that means telling people I won’t do what I say I will until payment has been made first.
Being trustworthy like that might cost some business opportunities at first, but it will lead to more trust over time and far fewer headaches than taking money upfront with no intention of following through when it matters most (during emergencies).
Idea #3: Sell Custom-made Prescription Glasses
If you have a background in ophthalmology or optometry, you could use your expertise to set up a business where people with poor vision send in photos of themselves and your team creates custom-made prescription glasses. Check out Warby Parker and their $95 dollar glasses—that’s a solid business idea right there. The market is absolutely massive, too: according to one study, Americans spent over $1 billion on online eyewear sales alone last year; that number is expected to increase by double digits every year until 2020.
This means making money from eye exams to fitting lenses is all part of an industry projected to be worth well over $15 billion dollars by 2019. Add in that you’d be helping hundreds of thousands get access to vision care and it really makes sense as an entrepreneurial venture. This isn’t even taking into account how much money doctors make when they sell contact lenses directly to patients (about 50% more than what they do through medical supply stores).
Considering those numbers, if you can master personalized prescriptions then you’ll have no trouble at all making six figures per year here. Learn more about creating a successful business idea like selling prescription glasses here.
Idea #4: Offer High-quality Health Supplements
In medical school, you’ll learn a lot about what foods and nutrients can improve health. As a supplement company, you can then put that knowledge to use. You might want to sell pre-packaged supplements or create your own line of vitamin blends from your own concoctions. The sky is the limit here – perhaps even selling your products at health fairs and expos would be an option?
If you make it a point to offer high-quality products, people will notice and want to know more about them. And there’s no better way to market your business than through word of mouth! To get started with health coaching as well as other supplemental services, visit my Supplement Industry Guide.
Followup Marketing For A Clinical Trial About Alzheimer’s: Plan out how you’re going to track down prospects via email outreach. Start building custom emails that target certain roles (HR/Admin) within certain companies which have active R&D departments in different cities where clinical trials are conducted.
Idea #5: Create a Bedside Entertainment Stand
Medical schools use their campuses to house clinical simulations, including hospital rooms that are designed to look and feel like real patient care environments. In some cases, these make-believe hospitals are used for practicing surgical procedures and delivering babies. The trick is, these realistic patients need something besides a bowl of plastic fruit by their bedside in order to be entertained; why not give them an iPad?
And with Apple’s newly announced subscription program rolling out over 100 video channels, new TV shows and movies would definitely be welcome! Many medical students don’t have access to or can’t get an iPad from home due to financial reasons. But if they could rent one from you on-campus… well, suddenly you have a business idea worth pursuing!
You also might want to check out course MD – an educational app made specifically for nurses but has many apps which will educate any healthcare professional. It’s also got a convenient tool called Nursing Pal. Nursing Pal lists questions submitted by users based on symptoms & findings; it makes going through nursing school much easier!
Please take advantage of our free iPhone/iPad version –also available as an Android app under My App Market (search nursing pal). Download it FREE today!
Idea #6: Start a YouTube channel or vlog about your life as a medical student
If you’re a medical student, you could easily start a YouTube channel about your experiences during med school. You don’t have to be a whiz at video editing; in fact, if your videos look more homemade than Hollywood productions, that may add authenticity and interest.
Keep it fun and real—tell people what it’s really like to be in medical school. Show them how to study better, what kind of personality traits succeed (and fail) in med school, and so on. You could create an income stream from ads or sponsorships or even use your following as leverage to negotiate with medical companies or research groups. Get creative! The sky is literally your limit here.
There are many other things we can do to generate money, but we can only include up-to-date content and relevant information which allows students for studying through an online education website. I found two great education sites I thought I share with my subscribers that may help: 1.) Bestmedicaldegrees 2.)
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Idea #7: Buy low, sell high on Amazon FBA
There are lots of stories out there about people raking in some big money by buying stuff and reselling it on Amazon. In fact, there are entire books devoted to such strategies. The idea is pretty simple: Buy products wholesale (or at cost) and sell them on Amazon at a higher price. There are many ways to get products at a discount, including clearance deals and purchasing wholesale from China.
And you can sell them in two ways: through an Amazon FBA business or a third-party seller business, where you simply pack and ship orders on your own (some things, like electronics, may not be eligible for FBA). To learn more about how to start an Amazon business, check out How to Start an Amazon Business or my course, Selling Physical Products Online.
Also Read: 8 Business Ideas For MBA Students
Conclusion
Starting a business while in medical school is challenging. However, it’s very possible if you use your time wisely and have enough passion. If you have any questions about starting a business while being a medical student or need help on how to find an idea for your business check out our forum (link below). We hope that you found these ideas helpful! Good luck!
