Doctors Nova Scotia is trying to increase the public profile of doctors not named Phil or Oz.
The 3,500-member professional association representing Nova Scotia doctors has launched a new campaign – its first – inviting the province’s residents to share experiences and stories about the work being done by physicians within their community.
The campaign is highlighted by a new website, YourDoctors.ca. It showcases stories of work being done by doctors within the province’s communities and examples of innovative research programs and practice models, augmented by statistical facts (66% of doctors in Nova Scotia still make house calls, for example).
The campaign, developed by Halifax-agency Colour, debuted Wednesday. Twitter, Facebook and print ads in the Doctors Nova Scotia magazine distributed to the province’s medical professionals.
The campaign builds on a fall campaign by the Canadian Medical Association profiling physicians across the country that included members of Nova Scotia’s medical community.
“We felt this was a natural extension of a campaign to highlight the talent of the medical profession in our province,” said Dr. Michael Fleming, president elect of Doctors Nova Scotia. “We want to highlight the talent of the physicians we have in Nova Scotia specifically.”
Doctors Nova Scotia’s marketing approach was determined by research indicating that patients were already posting testimonials about their doctors on the internet, said Dr. Fleming.
Fleming said that the campaign is not intended to be a recruitment tool for Doctors Nova Scotia, although that could be an ancillary benefit. “If we can highlight the kinds of community projects, the kinds of physicians and how patients feel about physicians in Nova Scotia in a positive way, hopefully we will attract more talent to our province.”
