M3 Global Research Review
Medical Reviewer: Jordan P. Roberts, PA-C
The most common questions about M3 Global Research, a popular medical survey panel that pays clinicians for their insights, answered
Today, we’ll answer your most common questions about M3 Global Research, a popular medical survey panel that pays clinicians for their insights.
This article is the first in a series of reviews of various paid medical survey panels.
Our goal is to identify and address the most common questions clinicians ask related to these panels.
As a member of this online medical market research panel for several years now, I have a lot of first-hand experience to share with you.
You’ll notice some themes across the series as well as company-specific topics, including the presence of registration or other bonuses.
If we missed something you want addressed, let us know. Future reviews will cover the following paid physician/clinician survey panels:
We'll add others to this list as appropriate once we're able to establish a relationship and test them out.
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What is M3 Global Research?
M3 Global Research is a market research company with a heavy involvement in healthcare and medical market research.
Since that’s the most relevant aspect of this company for us and our readers, we are exclusively focusing on this component today.
Firms like M3 are seriously influential in the healthcare industry, even if you’ve never heard of them.
One reason is because they do something the healthcare admins, payers, pharmacy benefit managers, and other corporate medicine MBAs would never dream of doing.
Listen to the advice and insights of healthcare professionals like you.
It's good to know there are companies out there with incentives that align with those of patients and clinicians. If the corporate folks found a way to run a hospital without us, I'm sure we'd all be gone tomorrow.
I might be biased, since I’m a healthcare professional myself, but your knowledge, education, training, and experience is amazingly valuable, and not just monetarily.
Is M3 Global Research Legit?
Without a doubt.
A lot of clinicians hear the word ‘marketing’ and think of shady sales practices. However, what companies like M3 do is actually interesting, and if you buy my feel-good reasoning above, even inspiring.
At the very least, it demonstrates that marketing is not something inherently jaundiced.
Getting paid to answer surveys online admittedly almost sounds too good to be true. The difference is that these surveys are virtually impossible for people without a deep understanding of medicine. There just aren’t that many qualified participants out there.
This means the already high demand for you is even more intense. These agencies need to be prepared to pay you as much as, if not more than, your clinical wage for your help, so they do.
Furthermore, we’ve thoroughly vetted M3 Global Research and can confidently tell you that they are in fact, legitimate.
Not only have I been a happily paid panelist of theirs for years, but we also work with them to build their panel by helping folks like you find them.
If you want to support us, joining their panel (which is free) is a nice way to do that.
Not surprisingly, clinicians often want to know if doing something as simple as taking online surveys is a scam. In a society that calls you a hero only to simultaneously aggressively disrespect you, this is a necessary survival instinct.
However, M3 always pays what they owe. Here's a screenshot of my account after requesting a $57 payment back in 2020. I received a paper check in the mail shortly thereafter.
Who Can Join M3 Global Research Panel?
Attending physicians of all specialties, residents, PAs, NPs, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals are all eligible and encouraged to join M3 Global Research.
MD/DO physicians in the following specialties are in particular demand and will almost surely make more money on this panel than the rest of us would.
Most in-demand specialties right now:
- Oncology/Hematology
- Cardiology
- Dermatology
- Neurology
- Rheumatology
- Pulmonology
- Urology
- Surgery
- Gastroenterology
If your specialty isn’t listed, don't fret. Just wait until there is a new million dollar drug you can prescribe and you'll be on the top of the list.
How Does M3 Global Research Panel Work?
The business model of M3 Global Research goes something like this:
1. You Register for the Panel
Physicians, PAs, NPs, pharmacists, and other medical professionals join the paid online healthcare panel.
2. You Get Survey Invitations via Email
M3 sends a call for any open paid online market research surveys via email when available.
A unique feature from M3 is their targeting of only the verified physicians and other panelists who are most likely to qualify for the study in question.
This is partly based on the profile you set up with them, so make sure that's complete.
This way, you keep email volume low and save time by not answering screening questions for irrelevant surveys. More on that later.
3. Data Analysis (not your job)
M3 does some stuff with data and math, culminating in a healthy invoice arriving on their client’s desk, which is likely in a big pharmaceutical or medical device company.
That's how they are able to pay you. The best part is, you don't have to be there for the math part.
4. Check Your Mailbox (the one outside)
If you've requested a payout from your M3 wallet after completing a survey, you'll get a check in the mail soon after. Alternatively, you can request your earnings electronically through the M3 Wallet. Your options are prepaid virtual (or physical) debit card or an Amazon.com gift card.
Repeat as needed for best results.
How Much Does M3 Global Research Medical Panel Pay?
Expect to earn approximately $60 to $300 for each hour you spend on a survey. Don’t expect to do this full time, because that won’t happen.
The hybrid phone/online interviews are the most lucrative, though less common and need to be scheduled. The more common online-only surveys will vary.
There is more to this than just waiting for emails, however. Let's briefly cover ways to maximize your earnings and efficiency by spending less time on screener questions where you don't meet criteria.
How to Optimize Medical Survey Panel Earnings
It’s not realistic to think you’ll do this full time, even if you join all our recommended market research panels. Similarly, it is not helpful to see this as a substantial part-time gig, either.
You can’t predict the frequency of surveys, and you can choose to participate or not without penalty.
Plan for a few hours a month throughout the year, and all of a sudden you’ll find yourself with a few thousand dollars more than you had before.
That said, it is not uncommon to be disqualified from the first few studies you try. The invitations for these surveys give pretty strong indications of your chances of qualifying, but it might take seeing a few before you catch on.
I understand this is a frustrating, even jarring, experience that may discourage ongoing participation.
Look, I’ve been there, in the most extreme cases spending up to ten minutes answering screener questions only to be rejected out of nowhere.
How to Avoid Getting Screened Out of Paid Medical Surveys
Lucky for you, I’ve been rejected from hundreds, if not thousands, of paid medical survey opportunities.
When this happens, there is no feedback, explanation, or second chances for that particular survey.
However, I’ve identified some consistent patterns that I believe are the most likely reasons clinicians get disqualified from paid healthcare surveys.
Learn from my experience so you can feel confident in your chances to get paid for the studies you pursue. And hopefully make some good money while you’re at it.
That said, M3 Global Research does a reasonably good job of matching survey opportunities with your profile. In fact, they are probably one of the best market research companies that does this.
I’ll let you in on some more inside information. Poorly designed screeners that feel obnoxiously similar to answering actual survey questions are a fact of life, though by no means the norm.
There are regulations to protect against screener questions (which you did for free, remember) from being used in data analysis (for which someone, though definitely not you, gets paid).
What is less obvious is that this likely wasn’t directly the fault of the research firm’s; instead you can probably blame some bonehead at the client company for being bad at their job.
More Resources & Ways to Earn
M3 Global Research is a legitimate panel for healthcare professionals looking to make some extra money on the side. If you choose to join this panel now, you’ll be miles ahead of everyone else who goes in blind.
Don’t forget to join these other great medical panels to increase your potential earnings even more!
Further Reading
Paid Medical Surveys: 9 Most Lucrative Panels to Join
Taking paid medical surveys in your area of expertise is an easy way to earn some extra cash. Joining the right paid physician survey panels is not as easy.
Non Clinical Side Hustles [Part 2]
Non clinical side hustles/nonclinical jobs for physicians, nurse practitioners, & PAs. Part II: Unique teaching gigs & paid medical surveys
