Becoming a human guinea pig

One easy (depending on how you look at it) way of making money is to sell yourself to science and become a medical guinea pig. Companies need to test drugs and treatment of humans before they’re released, and students often make the perfect candidates as they are usually young and healthy.

You should be aware though that things can go wrong and you shouldn’t make the decision lightly. Have a good think about if it’s worth the money, there have been recent cases of people becoming seriously ill due to complications. If you’re prepared to take the risks you can earn around £130 per day doing medical testing which will be a massive contribution toward paying back your student loan or paying your tuition fees and student accommodation rent.

The best website to check out is called GPGP.net which provides loads of info on medical trials in the UK. You’ll be able to easily see where trials are taking place, what’s involved and the participants they’re looking for.

A friend of mine at uni did medical testing, earned decent cash and didn’t have any major problems. However, they did have a couple of days where they felt awful after the testing, which obviously meant they couldn’t study during this time. Therefore you need to make sure the dates of the trials don’t clash with deadlines at uni or revision periods as the last thing you want is to end up with a crap degree for the sake of a few hundred pounds.

Have you ever taken part in medical trials? Let other students know what the experience was like below: