New York surgeon turns balloon art into side hustle to tackle debt

Dr. Brandon Axelrod twists balloons between surgical shifts because the debt is too large to ignore. The 27-year-old oral and maxillofacial surgery resident in New York City has about $403,000 to $405,000 in student loans, a burden that has pushed him to turn a childhood skill into an online income stream.

Axelrod, a graduate of Cornell University and Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine, began posting his balloon creations online in January 2026. Under the name “Doctor Brandini,” he built a following of more than 54,000 people by mid-April, posting elaborate balloon recreations of medical instruments, pop-culture characters and celebrity figures. He has said he is “always nervous” about the debt, even as the work gives him a creative outlet during the long hours of surgical training.

The side hustle is not built on selling individual balloon pieces one by one. Axelrod earns money from the attention his work draws on social media, and as of mid-April he had brought in $2,303 from balloon-related posts since the start of the year. That is a small dent in a six-figure balance, but it reflects the reality facing many physicians in training: the path to a high-earning profession can still include years of financial strain before the pay catches up.

Axelrod’s connection to dentistry began early. At age 5, he slipped in the shower and injured his two front teeth, then went to an emergency dentist. That experience helped set him on the path to oral health care, and his family encouraged both his interest in magic and his talent for balloon twisting. Before residency, he performed at birthday parties and corporate events across Long Island.

Stony Brook University has said Axelrod has long twisted balloons into many shapes and expects to bring the craft into his future oral surgery practice. That is fitting for a field where precision matters, but so does endurance. He is still in training now, and the numbers show why the balloon work resonates beyond novelty.

The Association of American Medical Colleges says the median education debt for indebted members of the Class of 2024 was $205,000, while the mean was $212,341. The group also found that 71% of graduates reported education debt. In NewYork-Presbyterian’s 2024-2025 salary schedule, oral and maxillofacial surgery residents were paid from $96,600 in PGY-1 to $126,500 in PGY-7, underscoring how even a demanding medical career can leave room for side income to stay afloat.