Abby B. *This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission (at no cost to you) if you sign up for a program or make a purchase using my link!
13 Best Side Hustles For Surgical Techs
1. Become a pet-sitter for other pet owners
On weekday nights or weekends when you’re free and off work, you can earn some side income by pet-sitting for others. Generally, apps like Rover and WagWalking focuses more on cats and dogs as they’re the most common.
If you’re small in size or afraid of large dogs, Rover requires pet owners to specify the size of their dogs (up to giant). Large ones can be difficult to handle especially if you’re tasked to walk them.
Depending on how much time you have to spend as a pet-sitter, you can make at least $200 with 10 visits in a single weekend. This is just based on the average pay rate of $15-$20 pet-sitters make per visit – varies with area and experience.
Love using social media and have a good number of followers? It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a specific direction for your content, you can earn commission on affiliate products/services you promote.
Ideally, your social accounts should be serving a type of audience e.g. mothers, working professionals or students. By knowing your target audience, you can design a stronger content strategy and promote the right products/services for you to earn from.
For example, if most of your followers are working professionals, they may benefit from you sharing affiliate links to office wear and office desk essentials. You can easily get these links on Amazon Associates!
3. Start a YouTube channel for your personal passion
It can be tough to start a YouTube channel based on your main profession as a surgical tech as there’s not much that you can show to your audience (from your everyday work). However, you can choose different angles to approach content creation e.g. sharing your tips & experience as a surgical tech and suggest ways others can follow your career path.
That’s exactly the method Ali Abdaal used to start his YouTube journey!
Not interested in editing long winding videos and prefer talking to a microphone without a camera? You can start a podcast for anything you’re passionate about.
Personally, my partner and I listen to podcasts for self-development, financial tips as well as business ideas. You don’t have to worry if none of these interest you as there’s so many kinds of podcasts out there (you’ll be surprised)!
Compared to YouTube, a podcast requires less equipment for you to start. You’ll just need to get a good microphone and install an audio editing software on your computer if you don’t already have one.
A double or triple content creation strategy that will allow you to grow faster!
5. Build your own informational or educational blog
My personal favorite way of content creation that many overlook is blogging. You can make money online by writing content for your own website.
However, it’s not for everyone – especially those looking to make a quick buck. Just like YouTube, it takes quite awhile for you to make any money with a blog. But unlike YouTube, it’s less glamourous and your content hardly goes viral.
Whatever it is, choose something you’re passionate about and go all in regardless!
6. Pick up photography to sell your original photos online
Not looking to become a content creator? You can still earn passive side income online as a stock photographer. You’ll just need to get a good DSLR or mirrorless camera and learn some basic photography techniques before starting.
Compared to some of the side hustle ideas I’ve suggested above, taking photographs is quite straightforward and doesn’t require a lot of work. It can also be quite therapeutic for some especially those that loves creativity and photography in general.
I personally love taking photos of old buildings, nature and food. Even as a full-time blogger, I find photography fun and allows me to destress on days I’m not working on my blog.
So, what better way to earn side income than to sell photos you don’t mind taking in the first place?
If you want to be writing for medical topics but don’t want to go through the hassle of growing a blog, you can do so by writing for other websites as a freelance writer.
Some websites may accept contributors and freelance writers to their blog section so you’ll have to reach out and apply. Usually, you’ll need to do some research yourself on topics the website can benefit from and pitch it to them.
As long as they don’t have a similar article or topic published, they should be happy you’re writing it for them (with a pay).
8. Tutor school kids online in your free time
Always loved learning and wouldn’t mind a career in teaching? You can test it out by tutoring school kids online when you’re not working.
Popular subjects to teach are mathematics, language, science and history. Since you majored in medical studies, teaching science would be an easy decision. You can be teaching high school kids instead of younger ones as there’s a better chance of negotiating a higher pay rate.
Depending on your availability, spending at least five hours in a week on tutoring can bring in about $300 in side income. This assumes an hourly rate of $60!
Rates can be higher if you’re in a bigger more expensive city and lower if you’re not. However, don’t worry as online tutoring makes it possible for you to earn a higher pay rate – without spending anything on transportation.
9. Write on Medium and earn with their Partner Program
Looking for a sweet spot between blogging and being a freelance content writer? You should sign up as a member on Medium and make money writing through their Partner Program.
Whether you’re looking to build an online audience to your social accounts or gain recognition in the online medical industry, writing on Medium can make it possible. You’re able to set up a writer’s profile and place links to Twitter, YouTube and even LinkedIn.
There’s also no worry of your article not being found on Google as Medium has followers of its own. As long as you’re writing on topics others find interesting, you should build your own readership within Medium.
As annoying as it may sound, I get daily emails from Medium on articles their members wrote that they recommend me reading. Most are suggested based on my preferences so it’s still something to look forward to.
10. Offer transcription services for the medical field
Open to freelance work but not really into content writing? You can earn an income online as a medical transcriptionist and transcriber.
If you have good skills for listening to recordings and typing things efficiently, you might want to consider a side hustle in transcription. Just like content writing, you have a higher advantage by specializing in medical transcription services against general ones.
Clients are also looking for experienced medical professionals to do the job as there are terms and jargons unique to the medical field. You can do transcription as a side hustle on a remote basis with just a laptop and a pair of good earphones.
| What do I need to start? | – Great listening & typing skills – Good command of the language you wish to transcribe – Attention to details |
Check out: 20+ companies for remote transcription jobs
11. Become a personal trainer or yoga instructor
Love working out at the gym on your off days? You can make a good side income teaching others how to start their gym journey too. It’s even more possible to do this if you’ve practiced a regime that allowed you to build body muscles or lose weight.
It’s a proof your training strategy works!
To start offering professional training services, you may need to get the right certifications first. However, you can always start small by helping out your friends or acquaintances to see whether you like the idea.
If yoga is something you prefer over going to the gym, you can explore the same to become a certified yoga instructor. An acquaintance of mine works for a bank and teaches yoga on the side as she got her professional certifications.
Both of these roles are great as part-time side hustles and work well for yourself if you’re looking to unwind after a tiring day or week.
| What do I need to start? | – Yoga or personal trainer certification – Platform to promote your service to friends or acquaintances e.g. Instagram or Twitter – The right tools to use for teaching |
12. Create digital products and templates to sell on Etsy
Interested in the idea of selling things online repeatedly at no extra cost? You should create digital products to sell on Etsy.
Similar to stock photos, digital products only need to be created once and can be sold indefinitely. This includes Canva templates, Excel products, clipart and printable posters – you can find my full list of digital products here.
You don’t have to think far on how to start selling them as Etsy makes it easy to create listings for digital downloads. Sellers will not have to ship anything as buyers are given immediate access to the files when they make a successful purchase.
As a surgical tech, there’s quite a range of products you can choose to create. One I would suggest is to make posters for science studies, as digital posters are fairly easy for beginners to make.
You can also be making infographics for learning, cards with inspiring quotes and even digital planners for science studies.
Here’s a sample of digital products you can make to sell on Etsy.
Other sites you can use to sell digital products:
| What do I need to start? | – A digital product idea – Tools to create your digital product – Platform to sell on |
Here’s a list of digital products you can make to sell on easy platforms like Etsy. I’ve made a quick guide on how to make these products too!
13. Make money selling custom merchandise with print on demand
Always wanted to start an online business selling products you love but not sure where to begin? I highly recommend starting a print on demand shop where you can sell your own designed merchandise – check out my seven reasons why you’ll love POD.
If you didn’t know, print on demand or POD works just like dropshipping as you don’t need to buy any inventory to start selling. In fact, once you make a sale (even if it’s for a single unit), you don’t have to be the one shipping the product.
Your print provider will print your design on the merchandise and ship it directly to your customer. As it uses a white label business model, customers will not even know that the product was ship from a print factory as these details are not included in the packaging of their order.
Two best print provider for beginners are Printify and Printful. Both have different product catalogues and pricing – so best you do some research to find out what you like.
As a POD seller, you’ll only need to come up with the designs and upload them to products you want to sell. Even with zero designing skills, it’s possible to make your own designs with tools like Canva or Kittl.
Not sure how to create winning designs? Buy ready ones instead on creative marketplaces like Creative Fabrica or Envato Elements.
| What do I need to start? | – Basic designing skills – A laptop to work with – An initial niche and product |
Can’t decide what product to design and sell? Check out my product guides before deciding!
- Tote bags for print on demand
- Tumblers for print on demand
- Phone cases for print on demand
- Posters for print on demand
- Leggings for print on demand
- Jewelry for print on demand
- Candles for print on demand
- Doormats for print on demand
- Hoodies for print on demand
- Pet products for print on demand
- Socks for print on demand
- Pajamas for print on demand
- Blankets for print on demand
- Baby clothes for print on demand
- Wrapping paper for print on demand
- Puzzles for print on demand
- Stickers for print on demand
- Athletic wear for print on demand
- Hats for print on demand
- Journals for print on demand
- Greeting cards for print on demand
- Mugs for print on demand
Which Side Hustle Should I Choose?
Unsure which side hustle for surgical techs you should go for? Here are the top 6 things to consider when deciding which side hustle is best for you.
- How much time can you commit to it?
- Consider how much time you can set aside for your side hustle for weekdays and weekends
- What type of income are you looking for?
- Do you want to make income actively or passively while you sleep?
- What sparks interest & passion in you?
- Choose a side hustle that aligns to your personal goals and interests as it keeps you motivated
- Are you an extrovert or an introvert?
- Different side hustles requires different level of communication with the outside world, are you comfortable meeting new people every day?
- What is your current partner or friend up to that you can leverage on?
- Doing something with a friend or partner makes things easier and more manageable
- How soon do you need to make extra money?
- Not all side hustles make the same amount of money in the same pace, do you need money today or in a year’s time?
Bottom Line
You might think it’s tough to start a side hustle while having a demanding full-time job. Most of us will not have any energy after a long day at work to commit to anything else on the side.
However, this varies for everyone! You have to make the choice between growing your professional career or working on something new that may benefit you in the short-term or long-term.
Some may even want to do both! So, go through the list I’ve made above and start working on one of the ideas that will get you there.
I will always recommend building passive income streams to no longer trade time for money.
Here are 13 best side hustles for surgical techs:
- Become a pet-sitter for other pet owners
- Promote affiliate links on social media to earn commission
- Start a YouTube channel for your personal passion
- Share your life’s knowledge as a podcaster
- Build your own informational or educational blog
- Pick up photography to sell your original photos online
- Start freelance writing for medical-related topics
- Tutor school kids online in your free time
- Write on Medium and earn with their Partner Program
- Offer transcription services for the medical field
- Become a personal trainer or yoga instructor
- Create digital products and templates to sell on Etsy
- Make money selling custom merchandise with print on demand
I’m not one to brag, but blogging has changed my life. I’ve been able to earn an income passively while on a coffee date and traveling with my family. With everything, it takes time to learn and not an overnight success – to speed things up, get yourself a blogging coach before starting.
These are my blogging resources to help you out:
- Step-by-step guide how to start blogging in your free time
- Why you need a blogging coach right from the start
- Worried of exposing yourself? You can blog anonymously
Photo by Karolina Grabowska
