A recruiter working appropriately should not treat a candidate as a mark up or product. I have been recruiting in pain management solely for the past 16 years. This type of reverse marketing that you are talking about that recruiters do is unfortunately a negative stain on the industry and it is understandable that physicians would have a bad taste in their mouths due to this. We don't as a company, nor should other recruiters, utilize a candidate to "sell to a new practice" We are hired by an employer who need us to recruit for them--thusly we are doing the ground work to find them appropriate candidates. Not all practices who decide to use a recruiter are offering a bad job---the majority of my clients are physician owned practices that utilize my services to seek out, weed through the candidates that don't fit their criteria, market and advertise appropriately, assist in facilitation and help in any negotiation process. In a lot of cases, it saves the practice money and certainly a lot of time by utilizing a recruiter in this respect. The statement of a practice not hiring the right physician because of a placement fee is an absolute incorrect mindset about the industry. Saving a $10k placement fee that a practice pays for a recruiter's candidate if they are the right candidate is simply not a decision that anyone trying to find the right person is going to try and get around--it is not worth it. It is an extremely small price to pay to find the right candidate and typically about the same cost then if the practice decided to advertise themselves and do all the leg work.
I would be wary if a recruiter said that they will shop around for you as a candidate--then yes, you may absolutely be asking for problems down the road. However, quality recruiters will only let you know when they get good opportunities in that match general parameters of what you are looking for--they should not call you all the time, and they should not bother you with positions that don't make sense. So, definitely ask around and find the right ones. When you are looking for a positions--especially coming out of a program--you should cast many nets--carefully--you need to have different view points and assistance from people in the industry to help compare and make the right decision. Though you may pick a job at first that you don't stay at for years and years--but you certainly don't want to pick a first job where you are taken advantage of or are in a bad practice situation. Pain management is not an industry such as family practice or internal medicine--there are not thousands of positions available at any given time--it is a small, close knit arena--and anybody you talk to about your job search--especially recruiters--should have a base knowledge of pain management and all it's components if they are going to be someone you rely on to make an informed decision.