Your mother's number one disappointment in life is no secret. "Why couldn't you be a doctor?" she still asks. But if you've got the background and the knack, you may still be able to earn six figures -- and your mom's respect -- in an allied field: healthcare consulting.

The healthcare field offers a diverse range of opportunities for business consultants. A consultant may be asked to step in, for example, when physicians in group practice are looking to streamline operations and boost their net. A hired expert may also be asked to help the doctor-partners secure their futures by addressing tough financial issues such as, "How do you buy out doctors when they leave the practice?" says Robert Cimasi, president of Health Capital Consultants Inc. of St. Louis.

"Right now, the big opportunities are in the e-commerce sector of healthcare," says Cimasi. "There's a massive infrastructure investment going on so doctors will be able to log on to write prescriptions, get lab results and access patient records." Efforts to integrate these capabilities into a group practice or larger healthcare provider may require outside expertise in medical records, information technology and finance.

The healthcare industry is constantly buffeted by the winds of regulatory change. So consultants are often called in to help a company comply with the thousand-headed monster of federal regulation while keeping its compass pointed to profitability. Cimasi says there's a special emphasis these days on staying in the good graces of the US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, which investigates Medicare fraud, abuse and overbilling.

There is another healthcare consulting specialty that's ripe with opportunity, claims Cimasi. "Human resources consulting is an area where people can go in and make their mark" as independent consultants, even with scant backgrounds in healthcare, he says. "Physician and nurse recruiting is hotter than a pistol. Entry barriers for this are low -- all you need is a third bedroom and a phone."

Cimasi's enthusiasm is tempered by a key market perception. "I have never seen as many healthcare consultants as are out there now," he cautions.

For four years, Richard Woodward consulted to top pharmaceutical makers, helping trim costs by focusing on one key business technique. As an independent consultant based in Voorhees, New Jersey, Woodward started out by helping a drug company develop a business plan. Working with the chief scientist, he quickly helped reduce planned equipment outlays for a new research lab from $750,000 to $150,000.

Woodward quickly learned that outsourcing is how you get stuff done. Over the years, he has consulted to a wide variety of companies involved in pharmaceuticals, from startups specializing in gene therapy and transgenics to multinational drug giants. He's helped companies concentrate on their core businesses by outsourcing various operations, even in the key areas of manufacturing, research and development.

Woodward says that for small drug startups, independents often do better jobs than the Big Five consulting firms, which "tend to come in with the idea of completely reengineering your company." Independent consultants often know how to give fledgling firms just the advice they need at a price they can afford.

Still, healthcare consultants are often paid well for saving their clients big bucks, says Woodward. Typical rates range from $1,000 to $2,500 per day.

But Woodward has grown weary of the constant tug of war between two irreconcilable demands of his free-agent business: marketing and billable hours. "If you're working, you're not marketing. If you're marketing, you're not working," he says. So he recently decided to take a full-time job as vice president of clinical development at Polymerix Corp. of New Jersey.

Is it better to be master of your own free-agent domain or a mere VP at a sexy biotech firm? We'll have to leave that one to mom to decide.