Latest / The Side Hustle Career Podcast with Fexingo: Second Income, Freelancing While Employed / How a Nurse Built a 2000 Monthly Medical Writing Side Hustle
Transcript
- Lucas: So last week I was talking to a registered nurse in Phoenix named Priya. She works three twelve-hour shifts in an ICU, and in her off time she brings in about two thousand dollars a month writing — medical writing, specifically. No portfolio, no journalism degree, just her clinical knowledge and a laptop. Luna: Two thousand a month on top of an ICU salary? That's serious money. How long did it take her to get there? Lucas: About five months. She started by looking at what she already knew — things like wound care protocols, medication management, patient discharge instructions. Stuff she does every day, but that most generalist writers can't touch because they don't have the clinical vocabulary. Luna: Right, because if you don't know the difference between a central line and a PICC line, you're going to write something that's actually dangerous. Luna: So she went straight to agencies, not to Upwork or Fiverr? Lucas: Correct. She tried Upwork first and got one job at three cents a word. She said it felt insulting. So she switched tactics and looked up agencies that specialize in healthcare content — firms that produce white papers for pharmaceutical companies, blog posts for hospital systems, patient education brochures. She sent cold emails with her samples and a short note: 'I'm an ICU nurse, I can write accurate clinical content faster than someone who has to research every term.' Luna: And what kind of rates did she get? Lucas: Her first agency client paid her fifty cents a word. That's ten times what Upwork paid. She now charges a dollar a word for some projects. So a thousand-word article takes her two to three hours, and she bills seven hundred to a thousand dollars for it. Luna: That's insane. I mean, it makes sense — medical writing is one of the highest-paid freelance niches. I read a report from the American Medical Writers Association that the median hourly rate for experienced medical writers is around sixty-five dollars an hour. Priya is basically at that level after five months. Lucas: And she's not even experienced as a writer. She's experienced as a nurse. The writing is just a container for her expertise. Luna: So for someone listening who is a nurse, or a pharmacist, or a physical therapist — what's the first step? Just write a couple samples and email agencies? Lucas: Pretty much, but there's a nuance. Priya didn't just send random samples. She tailored each one to the agency's client base. She found one agency that did a lot of cardiology work, so she wrote a sample about managing hypertension in diabetic patients. Another agency focused on oncology, so she wrote about chemo port maintenance. She addressed the email to the content director by name. Luna: So she did her homework. That's the part most people skip. Lucas: Exactly. And she also leveraged her network. She asked a former nursing instructor to review one of her samples and give a testimonial. That testimonial is on her LinkedIn profile and in her email signature. It adds a layer of credibility that a cold pitch doesn't usually have. Luna: That's smart. So she's using her existing professional credibility to open doors. Lucas: Right. And the timing is good. The healthcare content market is growing fast. More hospitals are investing in patient education to improve outcomes and reduce readmissions. Pharmaceutical companies need clear, compliant content for drug launches. Telehealth startups need copy for their apps. Priya says she gets more inbound interest now than she can handle. Luna: But here's the thing — she's a nurse working 36 hours a week in an ICU. How does she manage the workload without burning out? Lucas: She sets a hard cap of eight hours per week on freelance work. That's it. She does one or two assignments, bills them, and stops. She says the moment she feels like she's 'working a second job' she scales back. The goal is extra income, not a second career. Luna: That's a really important point. I think a lot of side hustles turn into 30-hour a week nightmares. People lose perspective. Lucas: Absolutely. Priya's approach is disciplined. She also batches her work — she does all her writing on her two days off, in three-hour blocks. She doesn't check email during the week. She just responds to pitches and proposals on Sunday afternoon. Luna: So what about someone who isn't in healthcare but has specialized knowledge? Like an engineer, or a lawyer, or a chef? Lucas: The exact same model applies. The key is finding an industry where the barrier to entry for a generalist writer is high — where you need specific vocabulary or certification to write credibly. Engineering, legal, finance, even niche fields like marine biology or aerospace. Luna: So the strategy is: identify your niche expertise, write two or three samples that demonstrate it, find the agencies that serve that niche, and pitch directly. Lucas: Exactly. And don't undervalue yourself. If you're the only writer who actually understands what a 'negative pressure wound therapy' is, you can charge a premium. Priya's first client asked for a revision once, and she explained why the medical terminology they originally used was actually outdated. They trusted her over their own client. Luna: That's a powerful position to be in. You're not just a writer — you're a consultant who writes. Lucas: That's exactly how she frames it. On her LinkedIn, her headline says 'ICU Nurse | Medical Content Consultant'. Not 'freelance writer'. Consultant. That shift in language alone probably accounts for a good chunk of her rate. Luna: So for our listeners who might be thinking, 'I don't have a clinical background,' what's one concrete takeaway? Lucas: One concrete takeaway: audit your current job or your past education for knowledge that most people don't have. Write down three topics you could explain better than 90% of the population. Those are your sample topics. Then find five agencies that serve that industry, find the content director's email, and send a short, personalized pitch with your samples attached. Luna: And if you get no response? Lucas: Follow up one week later. Priya says her response rate was about 20% after the first email, but after a follow-up it went to 40%. Persistence matters, but don't be annoying. Just a short, 'Hey, wanted to make sure you saw this. Happy to write a custom sample for your team.' Luna: I love that. So Priya went from zero to two thousand a month in five months, working eight hours a week. That's a pretty compelling case for anyone sitting on specialized knowledge. Lucas: It is. And I think the lesson isn't just about medical writing. It's about recognizing that the market rewards scarcity. If you have a skill or knowledge set that's hard to find, you don't have to settle for commodity rates. You can build a side hustle that actually respects your time. Luna: Well, and it respects your expertise. That's the key. Lucas: Exactly. So if you're listening and you've been thinking about freelancing but felt like you had to start at the bottom, Priya's story is a reminder that you can start at the top of your own niche. All it takes is a few samples and a clear email. Luna: Alright, I think I'm going to audit my own knowledge tonight. See if there's something I'm sitting on. Lucas: Do it. And let us know what you find. For now, I'm Lucas. Luna: And I'm Luna. Thanks for listening.