David Robbins, MD, gastroenterologist at New York City-based Northwell Health, joined Becker's to discuss noncompetes and the hardest choices he's had to make as a physician.
Question: How do you feel about noncompetes?
David Robbins: Noncompetes are an abuse of leverage and undermine the very fealty a physician might otherwise feel for the entity that employs them. They should be outlawed. I can’t think of any relationship, professional or even social, where one's options to find a more suitable life are defined by someone else.
Q: What is the hardest choice you've had to make in your career?
DR: I think that is yet to come … when to retire, and how to keep a grip on the sense of purpose that came with the career.