By James J. Mangraviti, Jr. 

Remote Non-Clinical Physician Jobs: Why Non-Clinical Physicians Work is Often Performed from Home 

SEAK has had the pleasure of assisting many physicians in their transition to non-clinical jobs.   In the almost twenty years we have been helping doctors transition to non-clinical careers we have seen ever growing interest in remote work.  The good news is that many remote non-clinical jobs for physicians exist in the marketplace. 

There are a good number of remote non-clinical physician jobs because of what many of these jobs require – reading, analyzing and commenting on medical charts/records or other information and some form of medical writing or talking on the phone or zoom.  These are all functions that can be performed well remotely from home for insurance companies, pharma/CROs, and companies that require medical writing.    

Let’s take a look at the top industries for remote non-clinical physician jobs. 

Top Industries for Remote Non-Clinical Physician Jobs 

Industry Remote Non-Clinical Physician Jobs.  Most entry level jobs for physicians with Pharma, Medical Device Companies, and Contract Research Organizations (CROs) deal with safety. The safety physician is tasked with analyzing adverse medical events (AMEs) during clinical trials and determining if the AME was related to the device or drug undergoing clinical trials.  This work consists mainly of reviewing medical charts and is a great fit to be performed remotely from home. 

Life Insurance Remote Non-Clinical Physician Jobs.  Life insurers require physicians to assist with underwriting.  The job of the physician medical director in a life insurance company is to review medical records and evaluate mortality risk in persons applying for life insurance.  This work is a perfect fit for being performed remotely from home. Most life insurance medical directors these days work remotely. 

Utilization Review Remote Non-Clinical Physician Jobs.  Working in utilization review is probably the most popular non-clinical career transition and the jobs in this field are plentiful. Health insurers and their contractors (such as independent review organizations or IROs) employ a large number of physicians to perform utilization reviews.  This work consists of reviewing medical charts, performing research, conducting peer-to-peer calls with providers, and issuing concise opinions with rationale for approving or denying a claim.  All of the above work can be, and these days typically is, done from home.   

Disability Review/Insurance Remote Non-Clinical Physician Jobs.  Disability insurance carriers require a large number of doctors to review disability claims. The work consists of reviewing the claimant’s medical chart, sometimes talking with a treating physician, and then comparing the information gleaned to the applicable disability insurance policy language.  This work is well geared up to do from home. Many, if not most physicians working for disability insurers work remotely from home. 

Medical Writing Remote Non-Clinical Physician Jobs.  A large number of physicians work as freelance or employed medical writers.  It goes without saying that writing is an excellent fit for working remotely from home and most physician medical writers do indeed work remotely.    

Takeaway: Remote Non-Clinical Physician Jobs 

Many of the top industries that employ non-clinical physicians have many remote non-clinical physician jobs.  Employers are able to offer so many remote non-clinical physician jobs because the work involved (reading charts, talking on the phone, and writing) is a great fit for being performed remotely.  If you are a clinician looking for remote non-clinical physician jobs, you probably should explore the above five industries where many, if not most, physicians work remotely. 

James J. Mangraviti, Jr. is the co-founder of SEAK, Inc.’s annual Non-Clinical Careers for Physicians Conference, held each year in Chicago.  SEAK’s Non-Clinical Careers for Physicians Conference features a faculty of dozens of physicians who have experience in non-clinical and alternative careers.  Many of our faculty are SEAK alumni.  SEAK’s Non-Clinical Careers for Physicians conference also includes free 1-1 peer mentoring, the opportunity to interview with employers and recruiters, and a robust networking experience.  Jim can be reached at 508-457-1111 or jim@seak.com