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Many physicians have become disappointed with their jobs or are unhappy about their career trajectory.

To change course, a growing number of doctors are turning to physician-focused career agents for guidance or to public relations agents to gain peer and public recognition.

Marc J. Levine, MD, orthopedic surgeon with RWJBarnabas Health Medical Group, Hamilton, New Jersey, said he decided to work with an agent despite initial reluctance.

“I was hesitant at first, not because I doubted the idea, but because it was unfamiliar,” said Levine, who signed on with MDEnvoy, a full-service career advisory platform that works with physicians from identifying goals to participating in job contract negotiations.

“What MDEnvoy changed for me was the asymmetry,” said Levine. “The institution has lawyers, recruiters, and a finance team on their side of the table. Most physicians show up alone, sometimes with an attorney they hired the week before. The agency’s expertise was the difference between accepting an offer and shaping one.”

Each type of firm has its pros and cons. Here are some physician-focused services to consider:

Career Agents: The Sports Agent Model

Most professional athletes have agents who negotiate salary packages and coach them on career growth.

The sports agent model is the premise behind MDEnvoy, which offers career guidance and representation to physicians.

In fact, one of the company’s co-founders is well-known sports agent Leigh Steinberg, who represented Troy Aikman (former NFL quarterback), Evander Holyfield (former world champion boxer), and many other big names.

“Our philosophy is that a client’s career is best served by guidance that thinks in decades rather than single contracts,” said Michael Suk, MD, JD, MBA, orthopedic surgeon and attorney, CEO and co-founder of MDEnvoy.

MDEnvoy describes itself as a one-stop shop for physicians, offering executive coaching, marketing and reputation management, and job offer evaluations among other services.

“Here’s what an agent actually does in a negotiation,” said Suk. “The physician should not be the one across the table asking for more money or a different incentive structure. The moment they do, they put themselves in an awkward position with the people they are about to work for, and they damage the relationship before it starts. Institutions respond better to a professional representative than they do to the person they just hired arguing about their own paycheck.”

Suk described how his agency helped one physician negotiate a better job contract.

“The original offer tied at-risk compensation to vaguely defined institutional goals that the institution itself could modify year to year,” said Suk. “The physician could hit every target inside their own division and still see the incentive cut because of decisions made elsewhere in the system.

The firm rewrote that part of the offer to use metrics the physician could actually move, including surgical case volume, quality benchmarks within their department, recruitment and retention of the physicians reporting to them, and patient access metrics like time to next available appointment, Suk said.

“Across all of these factors, base salary typically increases 15-25 percent above the initial written offer.”

MDEnvoy charges physician clients a monthly retainer. The annual cost is less than what practicing physicians typically spend on continuing medical education, board recertification, society dues, and disability insurance, Suk said, adding that rates are lower for residents and other early-career physicians.

Career Agents: Individual Services for Physicians

Another agency focuses primarily on job offers and contract review.

“We want to help physicians navigate their initial contracts from a position of strength by giving them the data and knowledge they need,” said Sanjeev Bhatia, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and co-founder of The Doctors Agents.

Bhatia said his agency’s proprietary AI tool allows clients to upload contracts or letters of intent to identify red flags, such as a ban on moonlighting.

Other services include legal contract evaluation and a personal finance check-up. The company also partners with outside lawyers and financial planners to review contracts.

Clients pay for each service, rather than a monthly fee. Use of the AI contract review tool costs $500 ($350 for residents), while an attorney review of a contract can cost $2000.

Other firms provide more specialized support.

MDAscend, whose co-founders include an emergency physician and a healthcare attorney, focuses on contract review, coaching, and support for strategy development and negotiations.

Another, True North Leadership Partners, led by a physician/coach, helps physicians through career transitions. Physician Coaching Solutions offers sessions to help you develop your goals and strategize your career path.

Press and Media Agents

A growing number of physicians post medical content on social media, with some turning to agents to help them create lively online videos or develop a compelling brand.

Some doctors want to promote their clinical expertise in hopes of being recruited for key leadership positions, while others may want to minimize negative online reviews.

“Some doctors are great with the media, but for most of them, it doesn’t happen that you do a couple posts and then get noticed,” said Stewart Gandolf, president of Healthcare Success, a California-based healthcare marketing firm, and host of Healthcare Success podcast.

“You might get lucky and lightning could strike, but the way most successful people do this is they have publicists,” said Gandolf. “You have to commit time and money.”

James Chisum, vice president of Miller Geer and Associates, a public relations and marketing firm in California that focuses on healthcare and professional services, said “A lot of work we do for individual doctors is related to crisis. A physician may be slammed in a Yelp review, but the doctors can’t challenge it because they are handcuffed due to HIPAA” privacy regulations.

“One of the best things physicians can do in that situation is generate sustained positive news and maintain a positive proactive reputation online,” said Chisum.

Chisum said that ‘earned media,’ such as being quoted in mainstream media or trade publications is more powerful than posting one’s own video on social media.

The agency can charge a monthly retainer, hourly fee or per-project fee, Chisum said.

Pros and Cons of Working With Agents

Pros: Career advisory agency:

• Develop a long-term strategic direction rather than just worrying about your next job interview.
• Get information and data to help in negotiations.
• Can sometimes get an experienced negotiator to participate with you.

Pros: Public relations or press agent:

• Have media experience and contacts that physicians lack.
• Help doctors avoid serious media mistakes that damage their credibility and image.

Cons: Career advisory agency:

• Fees vary widely, so it’s wise to investigate your options thoroughly and know what your firm is offering.

Cons: Public relations agency:

• No ironclad guarantees that an agent can get you the respected publicity that you want.

“If any agency tells you they guarantee a posting in the New York Times, run away!” Chisum said.