Making money is becoming much easier these days. The opportunities are endless. For those who say they don’t know how, or they don’t know where to look, we got you covered. One creative way you can make money is to apply for paid clinical trials for smoerks and for healthy volunteers..
There are a great deal of clinical trials out there just waiting to pay participants like you! This article is going to break down the ins and outs of what a paid clinical trial looks like and how you can cash in!
What is a clinic trial
A clinical trial is a medical research study that includes human participants. These research studies are aimed at determining if a medical procedure or medication or behavioral intervention are effective.
The other type of clinical research is an observational study. Much like the name states, researchers observe people in normal settings. They then begin to gather information, categorize participants based on characteristics, and track changes over time.
Regardless of which type of study is being performed, the goal of the study is usually to make life better for a certain population of people. Some of them may have a disease, or suffer from a certain health problem, but the studies are there to help.
Are clinical trials safe
The next question people generally ask is are clinical trials safe? Before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves a study, they are often tested in laboratories or on animals to see if the study is indeed safe and effective. If the results are positive, then the test gets approved for human subjects.
At this point a study must pass a certification by an Institutional Review Board (or IRB). The purpose of the IRB is to assure the rights and welfare of human subjects are properly and safely represented.
IRBs use a specific process to review research protocols of studies and related materials such as informed consent documents and investigator brochures. This ensures the protection of the rights and welfare of human subjects of research.
Overall, clinical trials are considered safe. That is not to say there is not risk involved. Some of that risk may include and is not limited to side effects or negative reactions, however, you have to weigh if the risk outweighs the rewards or vice versa. Only you can answer that question.
What are healthy volunteers and how do they fit in
So let’s say you have found a clinical study you want to apply for. However, you do not have the specific diagnosis that the study team is looking for. That may not be a problem because many times participants of a study will be required to be healthy.
Once you are accepted for a study, you will have to undergo a health screening. If you are given a clean bill of health, and do not meet the diagnosed eligibility requirements, you may be asked to participate as a healthy volunteer.
Healthy volunteers can often provide health data that can be used in a comparison to the unhealthy or affected group. The information that the researchers gain by testing healthy volunteers can help develop new knowledge, especially in medical research and development of new medicines.
Healthy volunteers can help researchers define what it means to be “normal” during their study. They can also be used to match patients with certain characteristics, such as age, gender, or family members relationships when trying to do a comparison study. (I have often heard on many medication commercials “in young and healthy adults…”)
Phase 1 (or the introductory phase of a study) is a popular phase for healthy volunteers. Their clinical trial participation contributes to the experimentation and implementation of safe drug usage and other biologics because they accept the possibility of risks from study participation without anticipated health benefits from the products being investigated. The incidence of serious adverse events is low because they are healthy.
Where can I find studies for healthy volunteers
There are several places one can start looking for studies for healthy volunteers. ClinicalTrials.gov is a site that often looks at various types of clinical trial opportunities. At the time of this article they were reporting about 200 different opportunities for both non-paid and paid clinical trials for healthy individuals.
DaVita Clinical Research is another site where you can sign up to their database and start searching for studies that you may qualify for immediately. They had posted over 100 paid for clinical trials at the time of this article as well.
Yale University is an Ivy League college and one of the best research universities in the nation. They are constantly searching for healthy participants in their studies.
Center Watch is another good site that boasts a robust listing of paid clinical trials for healthy individuals. I was able to find 50 clinical trials within a 100 mile radius of where I live.
Last, but certainly not least is drug company Pfizer. Drug companies are constantly looking for people to test their products because they are in the business of treating disease, selling medicines, and saving lives (in no particular order).
How do I qualify for these healthy volunteer studies
In order to be considered healthy, there are generally a number of parameters you must meet in order to participate. Non-smoker is one of the first things they usually look for. A healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) is a second thing the studies look for in general. A BMI of 24.9 is considered normal, but some of the studies even allow for a BMI into the 30s. Last but not least, age is a big consideration. Wile young and healthy is preferred, some studies are actually looking for older adult participants.
So don’t be discouraged if one study does not select you for participation because you didn’t fit inside of their healthy parameters. You may be eligible for another study based on a completely different set of parameters.
What are the payouts for being a healthy volunteer
The payouts for these studies depend on the phase that the study is in. Phase 1 is the earliest form of the study where not much is known about the drug or the procedure being studied. This phase usually pays the most (can be in the $2000 – $4000 range).
By Phase 4 of the study, the researchers are just fine tuning their product and it is almost ready for release to the general public. This phase of the study pays out at a much lower rate because it is all much safer by then ($100 – $400).
Conclusion
As you can see, being healthy CAN pay off! Not just for your physical health and longevity, but in a monetary form as well (should you choose to partake in a clinical trial).
Clinical research can not only help bolster your wallet, but it can help the greater good of humanity too. Study participants are not only doing a good deed by helping to advance our medical knowledge, but they are risking their health and well being so that the entire population can benefit.
For more information on side gigs like this one, and other gigs to help earn some more income, sign up and subscribe to Stan’s Gigs Newsletter here for all the latest and greatest articles.
Dr F Scott Feil is a husband, a father, a physical therapist (PT, DPT, EdD, Cert-APHPT), a professor, and most recently an Amazon best-selling author. F Scott is  also a business coach and mentor. He is one of the creators and co-hosts of the Healthcare Education Transformation Podcast which aims to break down the silos between healthcare professions in an attempt to find best practices in teaching and learning throughout healthcare academia. He also hosts the Professors of Profit Podcast where he interviews healthcare professionals about their side gigs and side hustles. His goal is to help at least 222 professors and clinicians pay off their student loans quicker and/or more efficiently by using multiple revenue streams. He is also the owner of PTEducator.com , FGI Consulting, and Epic Therapy and Wellness.
