One of the favorite side gigs in our physician communities is consulting, and we see robust responses every time we post a physician consulting opportunity through our physician consulting database. There are many reasons for this, including the lack of additional skillsets required beyond your medical degree, the opportunity to help shape the future of the healthcare industry, the fact that it can be quite lucrative, and the flexibility of this side hustle.
While on the whole these opportunities pay well, there is a lot of confusion amongst members of our physician Facebook groups and our consulting databases as to what appropriate compensation is. We often see questions asking what an average physician consulting rate is or what a fair market hourly rate to charge is for a particular opportunity. Supporting this confusion, of the ~20,000 physicians in our consulting database, over 35% either reported they weren’t sure what to ask for or left their desired pay rate blank.
Without a reference point, we’ve found that doctors are likely to accept opportunities that don’t properly compensate them for their time, as they don’t know their worth in this space. Therefore, along with our how much doctors make by specialty series, we also wanted to dive into the statistics and trends for our most popular physician side gigs.
Below, we analyzed over 15,000 data points to provide aggregate data to help our physician members when assessing and negotiating consulting opportunities. Please note that the numbers reported below are averages on minimum consulting rates required to even consider an opportunity that were submitted by our members, not the average consulting hourly rates that they ultimately take. When considering your own consulting rate, you should factor in your specialty, areas of expertise and specialization (especially unique features), the opportunity cost of your time, what the exact consulting position entails, and more, before ultimately settling on what hourly consulting rate is right for you in regards to a particular opportunity.
Disclaimers/Disclosures: This information is derived from our physician side gigs database, but is subject to self-reporting errors and availability of relevant data points from our online communities. This information is provided for educational purposes only, and is aimed at advocating for individual physicians. It is not intended to be used for collective bargaining; please see additional disclosures and disclaimers on the physician salary data pages. Please also do your own research before making any decisions based on the information provided. We do not provide individualized advice and are not formal licensed financial or legal professionals.
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Why Use Minimum Hourly Consulting Rates for Doctors In This Article
Members of our physician online communities sign up for several different physician side gig databases to be alerted about opportunities that match their interests.
For our consulting database, doctors note what their minimum per minute rate is that they would be willing to complete an opportunity for (not the average rate they do consulting work for), so that we only contact them with opportunities they may be interested in.
Many of our physicians also provide ranges depending on different situations and types of consulting projects. For these, to keep the data consistent, we used the bottom of their pay rate range.
We used this data to calculate the effective minimum hourly rate doctors consider by specialty.
As we’ve noticed throughout our how much do doctors make series, rates can change over time. While our consulting database started in 2018, unless otherwise noted below, we only used data from 2023 and 2024 to help provide the most relevant, up-to-date aggregate data possible.
While we did our best to examine the data during our review, as noted above, the data is subject to self-reporting errors. We hope the information provided below helps doctors get a baseline understanding of what to consider when assessing physician consulting side gigs, but please do your own due diligence as well before accepting any offers as rates can vary significantly based on several different factors, some of which we discuss below.
After you’ve reviewed the data and other information below relevant to you, skip down to the section titled "How Do I Determine My Actual Hourly Consulting Rate?” to set your rates for a particular opportunity.
Physician Consulting Rates Differ by Type Of Gig Opportunity
It’s important to note that the rates below are the minimum requested rates to be contacted about an opportunity. While not a requirement of our database, many doctors mentioned their rate was variable depending on the situation, or provided multiple rates.
Some of the different rates mentioned included:
Paid medical survey work
General consulting opportunities with discussion format
Online consulting work done via online meetings
Consulting gigs done over the phone
In-person consulting locally
In-person consulting requiring travel
Overall, consulting rates were quoted as significantly higher for general consulting opportunities that were discussion or experience based versus paid medical survey work. Physicians also requested a higher minimum rate for in-person consulting opportunities versus ones that could be completed over the phone or online via an online meeting.
Another way doctors distinguished their consulting rates was by the minimum amount of time required to make a consulting opportunity worth taking. Depending on the consulting opportunity, physicians included minimums of:
15 minutes
30 minutes
1 hour
Others even offered a blanket minimum pay rate for an opportunity, regardless of the length of the consulting opportunity. This generally tended to be a higher amount for highly specialized physicians, such as surgeons.
Overall Statistics for Minimum Physician Consultants Hourly Rates
We look at how different factors influence hourly consulting rates for doctors below, but wanted to first provide a brief overview from our consulting database as a whole.
The overall average minimum consulting rate for physicians to consider a project was $295/hour across all physicians for 2023-2024.
There is a wide range of reported rates, so here are a few additional points to help assess the numbers.
The median (or middle rate of all rates reported) minimum consulting rate that doctors would consider was $300/hour.
The overall range of minimum consulting rate that doctors would consider ranged anywhere from $50/hour - $1,000+/hour. We look at trends for the lowest and highest requested rates below.
50% of the overall reported values for minimum consulting rate that doctors would consider fell within the range of $150/hour - $400/hour.
Average Minimum Hourly Rates Physician Consultants Request by Specialty
A doctor’s specialty typically heavily influences their earnings potential, whether in regards to their clinical salary or a side gig opportunity, so we wanted to assess how minimum requested consulting rates differed by specialty.
Since rates can vary based on several factors, we include the average as well as the mean minimum consulting rates for each specialty to give you a better sense of the overall data for each specialty.
Allergy & Immunology: $306/hour average, $300/hour median
Anesthesiology: $310/hour average, $300/hour median
Cardiology: $360/hour average, $300/hour median
Dermatology: $365/hour average, $300/hour median
Emergency Medicine: $250/hour average, $240/hour median
Endocrinology: $305/hour average, $300/hour median
Family Medicine: $215/hour average, $180/hour median
Gastroenterology: $310/hour average, $300/hour median
Geriatrics: $275/hour average, $300/hour median
Hematology Oncology: $335/hour average, $300/hour median
Hospice & Palliative Care: not enough data to assess
Hospital Medicine: $210/hour average, $180/hour median
Infectious Disease: $330/hour average, $300/hour median
Internal Medicine: $220/hour average, $180/hour median
Nephrology: $260/hour average, $240/hour median
Neurology: $340/hour average, $300/hour median
OBGYN: $300/hour average, $300/hour median
Ophthalmology: $345/hour average, $300/hour median
Otolaryngology (ENT): $395/hour average, $300/hour median
Pathology: $240/hour average, $165/hour median
Pediatrics: $250/hour average, $240/hour median
PM&R: $285/hour average, $255/hour median
Psychiatry: $300/hour average, $300/hour median
Pulmonary & Critical Care: $330/hour average, $300/hour median
Radiation Oncology: not enough data
Radiology: $340/hour average, $300/hour median
Rheumatology: $295/hour average, $300/hour median
Surgery, Bariatric: $355/hour average, $360/hour median
Surgery, Cardiothoracic: $350/hour average, $300/hour median
Surgery, General: $320/hour average, $240/hour median
Neurosurgery: $410/hour average, $392/hour median
Surgery, Orthopedic: $425/hour average, $360/hour median
Surgery, Plastic: $385/hour average, $350/hour median
Surgery, Trauma/Acute: $340/hour average, $300/hour median
Surgery, Vascular: $420/hour average, $400/hour median
Urology: $340/hour average, $300/hour median
Since our original data was typically reported as a minimum rate per minute in our consulting database, you’ll notice that the median hourly rates follow similar patterns, as the original reporting bucketed rates into common standards such as $120/hour for $2/minute minimum and $480/hour for $8/minute minimum. (Some doctors also reported hourly rates, such as $500/hour versus $8/minute.)
Below, we look into the trends for the highest and lowest requested minimum rates.
Characteristics of Physician Consultants That Have the Highest Average Minimum Hourly Consulting Rates They Would Consider
While we can’t say for certain what rates doctors in our database on average actually make with the data we have available, we can look at the characteristics of what the physicians who require the highest hourly consulting rates before they’d consider taking on a project share.
Physicians with minimum consulting rates of $700+/hour often:
Average almost a decade of experience outside of training
Are often subject matter experts in their niches and/or fields of study
Have experience in medical innovation, medical devices, and other areas outside of direct clinical experience
Are surgeons in different subspecialties or are in specialties that often perform procedures, such as otolaryngology and ophthalmology
Live in higher cost-of-living states or areas, such as California and New York
From our database, the specialties with the highest average requested minimum rates are:
Orthopedic surgery: $425/hour average
Vascular surgery: $420/hour average
Neurosurgery: $410/hour average
Otolaryngology (ENT): $395/hour average
Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery: $385/hour average
Characteristics of Physician Consultants That Have the Lowest Average Minimum Hourly Consulting Rates They Would Consider
Similarly, we can look at overall trends for our physicians with the lowest average minimum consulting rates that they would consider:
Are often still in residency or fellowship or only have a few years of experience
Have decades of experience and are interested in low stress opportunities that allow them to learn about a new area of healthcare and health tech
Are physicians without sub-specialization
From our database, the specialties with the lowest average requested minimum rates are:
Hospital Medicine: $210/hour average
Family Medicine: $215/hour average
Internal Medicine: $220/hour average
Pathology: $240/hour average
Emergency Medicine & Pediatrics: $250/hour average
How Hourly Physician Consulting Rates Change with Experience
When doctors join our consulting database, they can indicate how many years of experience they have by providing the number of years out from training or, alternatively, what year of residency or fellowship they are in.
We looked at how the average minimum consulting rate requested changed with experience across our database.
Doctors 1 year out of training: $255/hour average minimum consulting rate
2: $270/hour
3: $310/hour
4: $310/hour
5: $300/hour
6: $300/hour
7: $275/hour
8: $300/hour
9: $285/hour
10: $340/hour
11: $345/hour
12: $305/hour
13: $315/hour
14: $295/hour
15: $330/hour
16: $330/hour
17: $340/hour
18: $370/hour
19: $300/hour
20: $305/hour
21: $280/hour
22: $290/hour
23: $325/hour
24: $360/hour
25+:: $320/hour
Looking at overall trends, we can see a few things when it comes to how much physicians request for consulting side gig pay, based on how much experience they have.
Minimum requested consulting pay rates increase over the first few years outside of residency and fellowship training.
Having an additional year of experience then matters less once an attending physician is established, until they hit around a decade of experience. Consulting rates doctors request then jumps significantly on average. Average rates across around 15-18 years of experience post training also tracked higher than 10-14, suggesting each additional ~5 years of experience has additional value in the marketplace. The other factor that may come into play here is that physicians at this stage of practice tend to be at the peak of their careers and earning potential, and therefore the opportunity costs of spending the time on consulting projects is the highest during this time.
Once physicians reach 20+ years of experience, overall these rates tend to slightly lower again. This could be because many of the physicians in these populations are retiring or are already retired and thus are willing to consider consulting opportunities that pay less because the opportunity cost of their time is less now that they don’t have to compete with their clinical job. As such, consulting is a popular side gig opportunity for retired physicians.
How Hourly Physician Consulting Rates Have Changed Over Time
When we were pulling the consulting data by specialty above, we saw an average trend of increasing rates when comparing 2023-2024 versus the beginning of our database, which started in 2018. We did however note that consulting rates didn’t necessarily increase at the same pace in each specialty as their average annual salaries tended to over the same time period. A few examples:
Anesthesiology: The average during 2018-2019 was $259/hour, while 2023-2024 saw an average rate of $310/hour (20% increase). In comparison, the average reported anesthesiologist salary in our salary and negotiation database increased about 40% in the same time period.
Family Medicine: For 2018-2019, the rate was $188/hour while the 2023-2024 rate was 14% higher at $215/hour. The average reported salary increased by about 25%.
Neurology: The 2018-2019 average was $252/hour while 2023-2024 averaged 35% higher at $340/hour. The average reported salary increased by about 25% in the same time period. In this instance, we saw minimum consulting rates to consider an opportunity increase faster than salaries.
Obstetrics and Gynecology: The 2023-2024 minimum consulting rate averaged 42% higher at $300/hour than the 2018-2019 average of $211/hour. The average reported salary increased by 34%, showing that minimum consulting rates have grown more for OB-GYNs as well.
How Hourly Physician Consulting Rates Differ by Location
In our how much doctors make by specialty series, we assess how average physician salaries change by location. Many consulting side gig opportunities, however, are remote, and location doesn’t factor in as much. We did notice above, however, that physicians living in higher cost-of-living states, such as New York and California, often have a higher minimum rate requested. While we can’t say for certain why this is, it may be that these physicians look more to side gigs as a way to address their high cost of living and therefore negotiate harder.
In addition, if travel is required for in-person consulting opportunities, these requested rates also tend to be higher to make up for the doctors’ opportunity costs and additional time involved in the consulting project.
How Do I Determine My Actual Hourly Physician Consulting Rate?
We provide the data here, despite knowing they are not average hourly consulting rates but rather rates physicians have expressed as the minimum they would consider, as a point for you to start with thinking about where to set your hourly rate. Know that at different phases of your life or even in different weeks of the year, your opportunity costs may be different. Here is an algorithm we propose for setting your hourly consulting rate for a particular opportunity.
Use the data in this article to get a ballpark for what might be reasonable to have a conversation about a consulting gig.
Factor in the things that make you unique as a consultant for this particular consulting gig. This includes sub-specialization, publications, whether you’re a key opinion leader (KOL), years of experience, publications, or other relevant professional or life experiences.
Factor in your own opportunity costs for this gig. Are you particularly busy during the time period they need you? Is there another opportunity available that pays better? What are your personal work life balance goals for the moment (i.e. how strongly incentivized do you need to be to want to take up your free time to do this)?
Who is the client and what is industry standard for the type of work they’re asking for? Certain industries are more highly regulated than others and limited in how much they can offer. Certain clients are bigger than others and have bigger budgets. If they’ve made you a preliminary offer, take that into consideration when determining your counter offer, if any.
How badly do you want to do it and are there any secondary gains from pursuing this opportunity? While we think that you should always know your worth and stand up for it, the reality is that there are some gigs you may want to do more than others for one reason or another. Let’s say this consulting opportunity has the potential to turn into a more full time role such as being a physician startup advisor, or will be very public and open the door to more opportunities or promote your brand. In these cases, you may want to consider compromising more if you think there’s potential to lose the gig if you negotiate too hard. Otherwise, stand your ground! There will always be more opportunities once you start intentionally looking for them.
Once you’ve settled on a rate, feel free to propose it to them! Once you’ve agreed upon a rate, make sure you create a consulting agreement to protect yourself!
Learn more about what to include in a physician consulting agreement.
Conclusion
Consulting is a great side gig for doctors, and we hope the data above from our physician consulting database can help physicians just starting out get an idea of general trends in what other physicians in similar situations are requesting. Overall, 50% of doctors doing consultant work request somewhere between $150/hour - $400/hour before even considering a project.
Again, note that the data here reflects not the final rates that they negotiate, but just where they are willing to have a conversation. The specific rate they choose will likely depend on factors such as specialty, how many years of experience outside of training they have, type of consulting opportunity, what niche expertise they have in relevant consulting topics, and what their outside opportunity costs in life are. We also found that many doctors have variable desired minimum hourly consulting rates, depending on the opportunity and the requirements associated with it.
Additional Consulting Resources for Doctors
If you’re interested in consulting as a physician side gig, explore:
To be alerted of consulting opportunities that match your interests and desired consulting rates, join our physician consulting database for free, so long as you are a member of our Physician Side Gigs Facebook group (also free, but you must be a physician to join).
Learn more about other popular side hustle ideas for doctors.