My schedule is taxing; at least, during the school year. This summer I am working and volunteering to make use of my time. In the spare hours, I’m moonlighting as a medical participant for fun and profit.
Finding the Right Studies
As a graduate student in psychological sciences, I was aware of the ever present research studies at my university. When I first considered participating, I thought about needles, genetic testing, and doses of untested medications. While some participation opportunities focus on this more invasive, dangerous region of research to gain FDA acceptance, another batch aims to look at physical health, mental functioning, and performance. This is the sweet spot. Over the course of two weeks, I’ll make an extra $200 by participating in two studies about gambling behaviors and testing my audio-visual abilities – no smallpox required.
Where to Volunteer
Universities and research institutions are constantly looking for “volunteers” that will be compensated for their “time.” The trick is finding studies that are applicable to you and fit into your schedule. Clinical research opportunities request some basic criteria (i.e., age, sex, race, etc.) and then specify what will be studied. With my busy schedule, medical participation for compensation is the perfect extra income. I don’t need to have any time commitments that overlap schedules and researchers are generally flexible. By gaining access to medical participation boards, you can begin to search for research. At my local university, there are a variety of different sites with opportunities. Dentistry, psychiatry, medical, and psychology all have public research wings for participants.
The largest, nationwide database can be accessed at ClinicalTrials.gov. The website contains 146,871 studies in 50 states and 184 countries.
The Student Body
The strangest part: I’m not alone. More and more students are turning to medical participation – for better and for worse – to pay their student loans and credit card debt. One student, Ken Ilgunas, made $391 by participating in MRI studies while a graduate student at Duke University. While contributing to science and making a buck is a generally a win-win, consider the risks involved before signing away your mental or physical health.
I’ve never participated in a medical study, but I regularly “donate” blood plasma for money. The plasma is used to make the flu vaccine and medications for several auto-immune diseases.
Hey Edward,
Thanks for commenting. Been thinking about getting involved in that. Although, losing blood and then getting it injected back into you is a bit unnerving. 🙂
Appreciate the tip! Might just have to try it.
-Sam
There are several levels of protection and, worst case, you loose about as much blood as you would donating that.
If you are still in the area, the place is on Elizabeth next to the McDonalds.
Edward,
Thanks for letting me know. I’m no longer in FoCo, but I’ll be sure to look in my current neighborhood for opportunities. Safe is good. Safe is key. 🙂
I did these studies back in college when my schedule was more flexible. Psychological studies are the best, not invasive at all. Although some wanted brain scan/MRIs which I didn’t do. Some exposure is okay but I didn’t need the money that badly and passed.
Yeah, some of these studies can be increasingly dangerous or risky. The pictures study regarding the smallpox vaccine may be one of them, as it was requesting participants for pre-FDA trials.
I’ll be sticking with the more modest ones for now. 🙂
I never thought of this when I was back in college, but it could be a good way to earn some cash as long as you don’t have the study affect you in a negative way.
Grayson,
That’s true. As long as you find the non-invasive studies, you should be fine!
My wife and I did a little bit of this when we were engaged as she had a good friend who worked for a research lab. We were able to make a nice little bit of money leading up to it as we were in several studies each. Thankfully they were pretty harmless in nature.
John,
Thanks for the comment. That’s how a lot of them are: harmless. They just require some timeliness, scheduling, and patience to find the right ones.
Glad I’m not the only one that’s been a guinea pig for science!
I participated in some studies at the psychology department while in college. They hooked up a bunch of electrodes to my head and fitted me with headphones through which I heard clusters of clicking sounds. If the study’s aim was to cause the subject to feel a strong and urgent need to pee, it worked. 🙂
Haha. Sounds like it was a cognitive psychology study! Awesome.
I participated in a few economics studies while I was in school. I liked these the best because the amount of money you took home depended on how you performed. I think the risk of smallpox was pretty low too 😉
Michael,
Thanks for the comment. Didn’t even know about econ studies! That sounds pretty harmless and a bit fun while you’re at it. I’ll be sure to look into these.
-Sam