As an oncologist, your work rarely ends when the clinic doors close. You manage complex treatment plans, and build long-term relationships with patients and families navigating some of the most difficult moments of their lives. It’s intellectually demanding, emotionally heavy, and often tethered to full clinic days, infusion schedules, and after-hours calls.
Moonlighting, for oncologists, looks very different from simply “picking up extra shifts.” Unlike general practitioners who might naturally slide into urgent care roles, oncology is a discipline defined by longitudinal care, complex emotional burdens and high-stakes decision-making. A moonlighting role might mean taking on defined, time-limited consults where decisions are discrete, documentation is contained, and you turn your pager off when the shift ends. For many oncologists, that change of pace can feel surprisingly restorative.
Beyond the additional income, moonlighting can offer advantages that oncology practice doesn’t always allow: clearer boundaries and work that isn’t measured solely in RVUs or longitudinal outcomes. Explore the types of moonlighting opportunities available to oncologists, and the regulatory, contractual and lifestyle considerations to weigh before adding a side role to your practice.
Who is eligible for moonlighting as an oncologist?
This article will specifically address oncology-trained physicians, a group that includes:
- Medical oncologists
- Hematologist-oncologists
- Internal-medicine–trained physicians currently practicing in oncology
The opportunities highlighted below require the rigorous training and broad scope of internal medicine that underpins oncology subspecialties. While a dermatologist or pathologist might face significant hurdles picking up hospitalist shifts, many oncologists retain a strong acute care foundation from internal medicine training, which may qualify them for certain hospitalist or urgent care roles depending on credentialing requirements and recent clinical experience.
This guide focuses on opportunities that leverage that core internal medicine skillset, ensuring that the work is a safe and viable extension of your existing capabilities.
It is worth noting that while fellows are often eager to moonlight, they face specific regulatory hurdles regarding ACGME compliance that attending physicians do not. Moonlighting counts toward their weekly 80-hour limit on clinical and educational work and must not interfere with educational objectives, with explicit program director approval required for both internal and external moonlighting.
Why do oncologists seek moonlighting opportunities?
On the surface, it might seem counterintuitive. Why would a busy specialist want more hours in the hospital? Often it’s a financial decision; in a Sermo poll asking participants for the main benefit of a side gig, extra income topped the list, with 41% of votes. Respondents had modest income goals, most commonly aiming for an extra $1,000 per year through side work, though some (22%) aimed for over $15,000.
However, insights from the Sermo community reveal that moonlighting serves several strategic functions beyond just a paycheck.
A break from emotional burden and fatigue
One 2024 study on the emotional toll of working as an oncologist in an ICU found that participants had trouble balancing work with their personal lives, were constantly aware of the finiteness of human life and had difficulty processing their experiences.
Scheduled, high-pay moonlighting shifts often provide a psychological separation from this longitudinal care. When you treat a patient for pneumonia or manage a diabetic ketoacidosis crisis during a moonlighting shift, you have a problem with a clear solution and a discharge plan. This can allow you to maintain clinical engagement without the heavy emotional burden you may carry in your primary clinic.
Monetizing acute care skills
Oncologists routinely manage medical crises. Neutropenic fever, electrolyte imbalances and acute pain management are daily occurrences in cancer care. These skills overlap significantly with hospitalist and acute care medicine. Consequently, stepping into a hospitalist shift can feel like a natural extension of the acute care management you already perform. Often, physicians still view their main role as a deeper passion. When asked which role they prefer, 74% of polled Sermo members said they like their primary role more than their moonlighting gig.
Sermo members have described moonlighting as less emotionally heavy, more predictable and immediately rewarding. For some, that balance makes moonlighting feel lighter, even if it doesn’t replace the deep meaning of their primary oncology role.
Financial autonomy in an RVU-driven specialty
The pressure to meet Relative Value Unit (RVU) targets can be relentless in both academic and private practice settings. Moonlighting income can serve as a buffer. It provides liquidity and financial security that isn’t tethered to clinic volume or payer mix. This additional revenue stream enables long-term financial planning, debt repayment or investment freedom without the need to squeeze more patients into an already overbooked clinic schedule.
Clinical skill diversification without leaving oncology
Moonlighting may help specialists keep their general medical skills sharp. Short-term general medicine exposure helps oncologists maintain diagnostic breadth. When you manage a wide variety of pathologies during a moonlighting shift, that can strengthen your clinical intuition, ensuring you don’t view every symptom solely through an oncologic lens.
How to find moonlighting opportunities as an oncologist
The path to moonlighting is rarely as simple as checking a job board; it often requires a mix of networking and utilizing specialized platforms.
These are the best places to find oncologist moonlight opportunities:
- Locum tenens agencies: locum tenens agencies can help you find short-term shifts in specific geographic areas. They handle much of the credentialing and logistics, which is a major plus for busy specialists.
- Internal hospital postings: many hospitals have internal needs for on-call cross-coverage (Internal) or extra shifts on the general medical floors.
- Direct outreach: by contacting local urgent care centers, smaller community hospitals or rural health systems directly, you may hear about unlisted opportunities.
- Medical social networks: sites like Sermo are invaluable. Beyond being a place to discuss cases, Sermo acts as a medical social media community where doctors can share leads, discuss nocturnist pay rates and offer honest reviews of locum agencies.
Before signing up for a shift, compliance is non-negotiable. If you’re a fellow, be sure that you adhere to ACGME moonlighting rules. This requires program director approval to ensure that your extra work does not interfere with your educational requirements or violate duty hour restrictions.
If you’re an attending physician, ensure you have independent malpractice insurance (tail coverage) for external shifts. Never assume your primary employer’s policy covers work performed outside their system.
5 moonlighting opportunities for oncologists
Physicians within the Sermo community rely on moonlighting to varying degrees. In a discussion on the topic, some members indicated that they take shifts three to four times per month, while others said they take shifts two to six times per month. If you’d like to follow suit, here are five specific clinical avenues that align well with an oncologist’s skillset.
1. Oncology locum tenens
When discussing oncology locum tenens in a moonlighting context, it doesn’t mean quitting your job to become a traveling doctor. This refers to supplemental, short-term shifts you take in addition to your primary position. These shifts typically occur during nights, weekends, vacation coverage or protected research blocks. You can choose between inpatient/hospital coverage or working at an outpatient clinic.
Inpatient/Hospital Coverage involves taking on temporary blocks of inpatient oncology or medical coverage. You might cover a weekend for a small practice or handle nights for a week at a community hospital. The goal is to support hospital services without assuming longitudinal responsibility for a full oncology panel.
As for outpatient clinics, some practices need intermittent clinic coverage—perhaps to cover a maternity leave or a sabbatical. These are structured as supplemental shifts rather than a full-time replacement role, allowing you to keep your hand in clinic work without a long-term commitment.
2. Per-diem Hospitalist Shifts
In some settings, hospitalist groups may offer ad-hoc shifts to oncologists who maintain internal medicine certification and meet local credentialing requirements. Hospitalist shifts for oncologists are often available on an ad-hoc basis. Since oncologists are experts in managing complex systemic disease, they’re valuable to hospitalist groups looking to fill gaps in a schedule.
3. Tele-oncology consults
Tele-oncology consulting allows you to provide expertise remotely. This could involve conducting initial consults, second opinions or follow-up visits for patients. It offers high flexibility since you can work from home. As with all telemedicine, physicians must be licensed in the jurisdiction where the patient is located, and opportunities are often tied to institutional or platform-based credentialing.
4. On-call cross-coverage (internal)
Hospitals often have gaps in their call schedules. Taking on extra internal call—whether for the general medicine service or the oncology floor—is a straightforward way to increase your income without the hassle of credentialing at a new facility.
5. Urgent care shifts
While less specialized, urgent care shifts offer a “punch-in, punch-out” mentality that many specialists find refreshing. One family medicine doctor on Sermo combined emergency room shifts with another side hustle: “I moonlighted in emergency rooms every chance I got and did medicolegal work whenever it came to me, for extra income.”
Non-clinical side jobs for oncologists
Sometimes the last thing you want to do after a 60-hour clinical week is see more patients. If you feel clinically overextended, additional clinical work might not be the answer.
Fortunately, your expertise has value across industries. Opportunities in medical writing, chart review, expert witness testimony and pharmaceutical consulting are abundant. If you are looking for ways to leverage your MD/DO beyond moonlighting, check out this guide to the best side gigs for oncologists.
Sermo paid medical surveys as a means to reach your goals
If you aren’t ready to commit to a 12-hour hospitalist shift or sign a locum tenens contract, you can try out a lower-barrier way to supplement your income: paid medical surveys.
On Sermo, your opinion has an impact. Pharmaceutical companies and healthcare researchers need insights that only a practicing oncologist can provide. By participating in paid medical surveys on Sermo, you can earn supplemental income on your own schedule, between patients, or from the comfort of your couch.
You can use the added income to further your career. Whether you are saving for a secondary degree (like an MBA or MPH) or paying for a new certification, these micro-consulting opportunities add up. It’s a way to monetize your intellectual property without the liability or fatigue of additional clinical work.
Integrate moonlighting into your career
Clinical moonlighting can allow you to leverage your strong internal medicine foundation in high-demand acute care settings, without the specific burnout associated with longitudinal cancer care. Be sure to prioritize ACGME moonlighting rules (if applicable) and ensure you have liability coverage.
If you are looking for advice on where to start, or just want to vent about a particularly tough shift, you can connect with fellow physicians on Sermo. Join the conversation to share resources, get peer support and find out where the best opportunities lie.
