On May 1, we celebrate Doctors Day – a time to recognize the hard work and dedication of physicians who are helping keep Nova Scotians healthy. As we mark the third Doctors Day of the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors continue to work on the frontlines of health care in their communities.They are logging long hours providing care for Nova Scotians at family practices, in clinics, hospitals and labs, covering shifts for sick and isolating colleagues, and working behind the scenes on public health recommendations to help keep us all safe.

There are more than 2,400 doctors working in Nova Scotia right now, stepping up to provide care and to keep health-care services afloat in our communities during this stressful time.

Doctors’ Day is an opportunity to celebrate them.

To help us do that, Doctors Nova Scotia invited Nova Scotians to share messages of gratitude for their doctors. Here is a sample of the messages we’ve received so far in our online communities:

Although I do not have a family doctor yet, I must say thank you to all the doctors in emergency and walk-in clinics for all the help they give to me and people like me in the same situation. I really appreciate you being there.

Dr. Venkata Puppala is compassionate, knowledgeable and up-to-date, and I’m thankful for my husband’s life that we found this terrific family doctor.

Thank you so much to Dr. Susan Hergett…. She is caring, compassionate, dedicated, kind [and] has so much patience with me.

A huge thank you to my nephrologist Dr. Gordon Yeung. Your compassion and care have been exemplary. It’s because of you that I am still here to enjoy my family.

Sincere thanks and gratitude to Dr. Robert Strang and Dr. Lisa Barrett for keeping all Nova Scotians under their watchful eye during these last two trying years of the pandemic.

A big thank you to Dr. Michelle Saxon. The last 10 years have been rough, but I know you are there for me.

Thank you, Dr. Roland Genge, for being our family doctor for the past 40-plus years! You take caring to a whole new level.

 A big thank you to all doctors – they all deserve it.

Is there a family doctor or specialist you’d like to recognize? Share a comment on our Facebook page or post a story to our Interactive Story Map. We will pass your message along to your doctor, helping to brighten their day.

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Doctors’ Day was first recognized as the official day of appreciation for Nova Scotia’s physicians in 2013. May 1 was selected as Doctors Day because it is the birthday of Canada’s first female physician, Dr. Emily Stowe.

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