Who is behind this
You should know who owns the directory.
Most directories bury this. We'd rather put it near the top, because if you're a clinician deciding whether to trust us with your listing, it's the first thing worth knowing.
The short version
HandshakeMD was built by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, a board certified psychiatrist in Jacksonville, Florida. He also founded shrinkMD, an independent multistate telepsychiatry practice. HandshakeMD is part of The Shrink Network, a group of independent mental health properties he publishes.
shrinkMD is listed on HandshakeMD on exactly the same terms as every other practice. No boost, no priority placement, no special badge, no fee paid, and no fee collected. If you ever find it treated differently, tell us and we'll fix it.
The longer version, since it matters
The reason this site exists is unremarkable. Referring a patient means calling around to find out who's actually available, and the directories that are supposed to answer that question are full of listings nobody has touched in years. That's a problem worth solving whether or not there's a business in it.
There's also an obvious conflict to name. The person who built a free clinician directory also runs a psychiatry practice that benefits from clinicians knowing who he is. Pretending otherwise would be worse than saying it, so here it is in plain language: we think being useful to clinicians is a good thing to be known for, and we're not going to distort the directory to speed that up.
How we make money
Right now, we don't. HandshakeMD has no revenue, and clinician listings will never carry one. When we do look for revenue, it will come from the places that don't compromise the directory:
- A job board, where practices pay to post openings and clinicians pay nothing
- Optional tools for large practices and health systems
- Data access for organizations that want the availability feed at scale
What we will not sell: position in search results, badges, sponsored listings, clinician contact data, or any form of referral fee. That list is a commitment, not a preference.
Disclosures
| What | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Ownership | HandshakeMD is owned by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA |
| Related practice | Dr. Refai founded and owns shrinkMD, an independent telepsychiatry practice listed on this site |
| Referral fees | None paid, none collected, from anyone |
| Advertising | None. No ads, no sponsored content, no affiliate links |
| Paid placement | Not available at any price |
| Funding | Self funded. No outside investors as of this writing |
| Network | Part of The Shrink Network, published by shrinkMD Publishing |
About Dr. Refai
Shariq Refai, MD, MBA is a board certified psychiatrist with dual certification in psychiatry and sports and performance psychiatry, an MBA from Duke University, and certificates in electroconvulsive therapy and obesity medicine from Columbia University. He trained at St. George's University School of Medicine, with residency at the University of Hawaii and John Peter Smith Hospital. Before medical school he worked nights as a psychiatric technician while attending the University of North Florida.
He is the medical editor across The Shrink Network and the author of three forthcoming books on anxiety and overthinking. Verifiable identifiers: NPI 1467680660, ORCID 0009-0009-1090-4373.
shariqrefai.com · The Shrink Network
Corrections
If something on this site is wrong, including a listing about you, we want to hear about it and we'll fix it quickly. A clinician can also have their listing removed at any time, for any reason, without explaining why.