Frequently Asked Questions
Replacing Your Income FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about Non-Clinical Careers for Physicians
Supplemental Income FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About Expert Witnessing, IMEs and Utilization/Disability Chart Reviews
More than you can imagine. Physicians work in a wide variety of non-clinical roles (see below). Your biggest challenge will likely be deciding which of many possible roads to follow.
Insurance (Health, Disability, and Life); Medical-Legal (Expert Witness, IMEs); Writing (Medical Writer, Medical Communications); Industry (Pharma, Medical Devices, Clinical Research); Medical Education; Healthcare (Hospital Administration, Hospital Medical Directors, Physician Advisor), Government (FDA, CDC, CMS, State and Local Public Health); Healthcare IT (Provider Side, Vendor Side, Government); and Consulting (Firms and Solo).
Expert witnessing (part time); utilization management (contract, part time or full time or physician advisor); and portfolio careers of part time clinical medicine plus one or more side gigs.
Expert witnessing (most well-paying); independent medical examinations (IMEs); contract file reviews (disability and utilization review); medical review officer; veteran’s examinations; aviation medical examiner; inventor; coach; consultant; life care planner; and freelance medical writer.
Yes, many of the fields and side gigs physicians transition into offer remote based opportunities. In fact, many of our faculty work remotely. Many of the fields discussed also have part time/contract opportunities available.
It runs the full range. We have dealt with everyone from medical students, interns, and residents to physicians in their 70s.
Physicians we have helped come to us for many reasons including wanting to make more money, have more control over their schedule, looking for new challenges, a physical disability that prevents them from practicing medicine, or simply no longer enjoying the practice of medicine.
Yes. Many fields have positions that do not require current U.S. Boards (including Pharma, Consulting, Writing, Speaking, Coaching, MSL, Communications, Startups and Teaching) and some of our faculty members do not have Boards.
We’ll expose you to a wide variety of potential non-clinical careers so you can choose the best fit(s). We’ll also provide advice on how to successfully transition. A free 1-1 mentoring session is also included to answer your questions and get you started in the right direction. Register for Non-Clinical Careers by clicking here.
Yes. SEAK has vast experience providing and facilitating 1-1 mentoring, consulting and coaching for physicians. We can help physicians who want to:
- Start or dramatically expand a well-paying, work from home side gig as an expert witness, independent medical examiner, or file review consultant.
- Create or reboot an optimized CV or resume.
- Prepare to testify as an expert witness or medical malpractice defendant.
- Draft top quality expert witness, IME, or chart review reports.
- Transition to a non-clinical career - finding and landing a non-clinical job to which they are well-suited.
- Prepare for and excel in an upcoming negotiation.
To set up a free initial consultation to discuss how 1-1 coaching may be able to help you,
please click here.
Physician expert witnesses: Board Certified actively practicing physicians typically earn $500-$1000/hr or more. At 4 hours per week this equates to six figures annually.
Independent Medical Examinations: On average, over $2800 for each record review, exam, and report.
Disability and file review consultants: $85–$250/hr or more per hour with potential through volume for six figures without ever having to testify. Part-time and full-time employment (W-2) may also be available.
Both are typically very limited.
SEAK offers category 1 CME courses in each of these areas:
How to Start, Build, and Run a Successful Expert Witness Practice
How to Start, Build and Run a Successful IME Practice
How to Start Build and Run a Successful Disability and File Review Practice
You will have the tools and knowledge to get started immediately after completing SEAK’s introductory training courses in these areas:
How to Start, Build, and Run a Successful Expert Witness Practice
How to Start, Build and Run a Successful IME Practice
How to Start Build and Run a Successful Disability and File Review Practice
Absolutely not. The vast majority of successful medical expert witnesses are neither academicians nor Ivy League graduates.
A knowledgeable professional who is responsive, easy to deal with and can communicate well both in writing and orally.
No. The way it works is that you will be sent a chart to review and be paid to review it. If you cannot support the position the attorney is looking for (a very common occurrence) you tell the attorney that and that will generally be the end of the assignment.
You can, but this would make you vulnerable to attacks on cross-examination as being potentially biased. The most credible and successful medical expert witnesses call cases like they see them and are available to both plaintiffs and defendants.
That depends. If you would like to testify in medical malpractice cases it is best that you maintain at least a part time practice. This may be a legal requirement in many jurisdictions.
The vast majority of successful physician expert witnesses and independent medical examiners are board certified. Insurance companies and their intermediaries typically require board certification for utilization and disability reviews.
Generally speaking, yes.
Yes, but these would depend on your specialty. For example, many physicians in musculoskeletal or mental health specialties testify in workers’ compensation and personal injury cases. There are other examples of non-medical malpractice niches as well, such as; life expectancy, life care planning, product liability, and patent cases.
Attorneys will often look for experts in Directories, such as our SEAK National Expert Witness Directory.
An IME is an examination requested by an insurance company, IME company, or lawyer to gain information on a claimant who is seeking disability benefits, workers’ compensation benefits or a is a plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit.
The average fee for an IME is over $2800 for each record review, exam and report.
Yes, as IMEs are properly considered a subset of expert witness work where the doctor in addition to reviewing medical records also gets to talk to and examine the person in question.
Issues a physician performing an IME may be asked to opine on include, diagnosis, cause of injury, future medical care, disability, and impairment.
Attorneys, insurance carriers and IME companies often look for IME providers in SEAK’s National Directory of Independent Medical Examiners.
You can quickly contact over 100 referral sources for chart reviews through SEAK’s Chart Review Consulting Referral Source Guide.
This work can be done at home, is low stress, does not require any patient contact or travel and almost never results in having to testify. In addition, performing file reviews is an excellent way to stay current on the latest medical developments while at the same time, being compensated for your time.
Yes, these are numerous employment positions with competitive compensation packages and benefits and many offer work from home possibilities. A key to landing these jobs is gaining experience and learning how to deliver excellent reviews starting with your first assignment.