A physician restrictive covenant is a section or clause in the physician’s employment contract which states that the employee (physician) will agree not to engage in the practice of medicine in competition with the current employer. These clauses can be either extremely broad or specifically narrow in scope. Typically, the physician restrictive covenant will prevent a physician from working in a particular field (medicine), for a specified period of time, within a specified geographic area after the physician’s employment is terminated. Some physician non-compete clauses state that the doctor may not practice medicine within one square block of the medical office for one month. Broader non-compete clauses will restrict a physician from practicing medicine within any of the states where the employer does business. Most physician restrictive covenants fall somewhere between these two examples.