So Im looking for easy ways to supplement my income. I know about donating plasma and semen but are there any other ways I can make easy cash in the medical field? Any info/stories would be appreciated. And what sorts of requirments do you have to pass to do these things? thanks!
I’ve participated in two research studies. One of them just involved having multiple MRIs of my arms using various methods of injecting the stuff, then I filled out a survey regarding the level of pain or discomfort I experienced with each injection. (They were trying to figure out which kind hurt the least.) Took about an hour, paid $100.
Then, last summer, I participated in one where they were studying the effect of an antidepressant on gastric motility (how fast your food moves through your digestive system). For this one, I had an initial visit where the doctor briefly examined me, asked me some questions, took my vitals, etc., to make sure I was in good health and my digestive system was functioning normally. Had to have a pregnancy test too. (Actually, several, I think I had three during the course of the study.) Then I was given the study medication (still don’t know exactly what it was, could have been Paxil, BuSpar, Effexor, or a placebo) which I took for a couple weeks. Then, I came back for a gastric emptying test which took about eight hours. In the morning, I was given a radioactive pill to swallow, and then we had to wait for it to leave my stomach and enter my intestines, which was checked by me standing in front of this big metal drum thing and the pill showed up on a computer monitor. Then, I was given a lovely breakfast of irradiated scrambled eggs on dry toast and a carton of milk. Then, for the rest of the day, I had to go and stand in front of the big metal drum every hour to note the progress of the eggs as they journeyed through my intestines. Aside from water, I was only allowed to eat and drink what they gave me, I had lunch and a snack in the afternoon. The next morning, I returned so they could check the location of the eggs, and then I had a satiety test, which was the worst part of the experience. Basically, I had to drink vanilla Ensure until I could drink no more, and they measured how much I could drink until I was totally full. I came pretty close to throwing up near the end. The next day, I came back for another study where I had to drink some more Ensure and lay in this big machine while they took pictures of my stomach. That was pretty much it, I think…that one paid $600. I thought about doing another similar one that paid $1000, I’d have to do the same tests, plus a colonic barostat. I decided laying in a bed with a tube up my ass for four hours wasn’t worth it.
In general, in order to participate in a research study, you have to be in good health, but there are some that have specific requirements, like being overweight, or being lean, or a nonsmoker, or a male between the ages of 18 and 45, or a diabetic, etc.
In my experience, the ones that involve many visits, or overnight stays, or involve lots of discomfort pay more, obviously.
I’m not sure how you’d get involved with a research study, I don’t know how other facilities recruit subjects. In my case, I’m an employee and the research studies are posted in the employee classified ads on the intranet. Either that, or word of mouth, with the MRI one, a friend of mine worked in Radiology and asked me if I wanted to do it. You could try calling any universities in your area, or anywhere where they do medical research.