These Medical Studies are Open Right Now — Some Pay Over $1,000
When I was in college, I needed all the extra money I could get.
So, in addition to waiting tables, I sometimes answered those ads stuck to the sides of telephone poles — looking for willing participants for medical studies.
Contribute to the advancement of medicine and get paid? They were a student’s dream.
Some required nothing more than a quick survey; others were clinical drug trials to treat various ailments.
These Paid Clinical Trials are Open Right Now
Although the ads are now displayed online — rather than on telephone poles — they’re still a great way to earn extra money.
1. Sleep
Yes, you could get paid to nap: Jillian Shea, a Penny Hoarder contributor, earned $12,000 from two sleep studies in Boston.
The first step is filling out surveys with information about your sleep patterns and overall health. If you qualify, you’ll be required to complete both physical and psychological exams — and then it’s time to get down to snoozing, er, business.
Though it might sound like a perfect gig, Shea notes “it’s not all comfy pillows and sweet dreams,” and cites challenges including isolation, unusual positions and needles or other medical devices.
Interested in sleeping on the job? Follow this link to find sleep facilities near you.
2. Healthy Participants
To investigate disorders of salivary glands, the National Institute of Dental And Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) is recruiting healthy volunteers to obtain data for comparison.
The study involves two to three outpatient visits to the Bethesda, Maryland, office. You’ll participate in an interview, saliva collection, lip biopsy, clinical lab studies and a dry eye exam — all of which the study sponsors say “are routine diagnostic procedures.”
To be eligible, you just have to be a healthy male or female age 18 to 70. Pay isn’t specified, but the recruitment page clarifies this is a paid study. Get all the details here.
3. Other Stuff
Even if you’re healthy as a horse, some studies might still apply to you.
One place to look is Covance, a company that “recruits for a variety of patients to participate in paid medical studies, ranging from healthy volunteers to smokers.”
When we looked, Covance had 17 studies open in four different states. Or check out Parexel, which has a range of studies available in Baltimore, as well as this list of seven places to find open clinical trials.
Being a human guinea pig isn’t for everyone — but if you want to make some extra money without a degree or specific training, they might be worth a shot! (Pun very much intended.)
