Talk to my agent: Some physicians let others arrange the job

A small but growing number of doctors are, like athletes and actors, using agents to secure work and the contracts they want. But is that really necessary?

By Jonathan G. Bethely, AMNews staff. Jan. 22, 2007.

In 2001, Duke University basketball player Shane Battier moved on to the NBA and hired an agent to handle his contract negotiations. Around the same time, Duke University psychiatry resident Omar Manejwala, MD, moved on to the pro ranks and, like Battier, hired an agent to handle his contract negotiations.

It might seem strange that a physician would have an agent handle job-hunting and contract negotiations. But the increasingly complicated nature of employer and partnership contracts has more doctors retaining outside help -- for an hourly fee, or a base rate of 4% to 10% of the first year's salary.

While no numbers exist as to how many doctors are hiring agents, many individuals and law firms are advertising themselves as physicians agents on Web sites and pitching their wares at seminars on medical school campuses.

The agents offer not only to help you get a fair salary but also to eliminate contract language that might be unfriendly to you.

Dr. Manejwala enthusiastically recommends hiring an agent, as he did to get his first two post-residency positions. For his current post -- associate medical director at the William J. Farley Center, a substance abuse rehabilitation center in Williamsburg, Va. -- he said his agent was able to get a noncompete clause eliminated from his contract, among other details.

"It turns out salary ended up being one of the least important variables," Dr. Manejwala said. The agent "justified his fee in both my cases multiple times over."