The winner of the inaugural Doctors Nova Scotia Patient’s Choice Award is Dr. Mohan Virick, a family physician from Sydney, N.S.

“I have practised in Nova Scotia for 53 years,” says Dr. Virick, who has dedicated his five-decade career to improving the lives and health of his patients. Now 80 and semi-retired, Dr. Virick still works three mornings a week at his walk-in clinic, which functions as a de facto general practice.

Dr. Virick has worked almost exclusively for the Mi’maq people of Cape Breton. His work has extended beyond his role as a clinician; he has worked with community stakeholders to battle alcoholism, diabetes and obesity. “It is only through constant education and awareness that we have been able to make some progress” in fighting the diabetes epidemic, he says. Dr. Virick is also a social advocate who helped prepare legal briefs for victims of residential schools. In 2014, he donated his office space and 140 hectares of land to the Eskasoni First Nation.

“Dr. Virick does so much for his patients and the community,” says nominator Mona Fraser. “This was my opportunity to honour him in the most special way.”

As part of the Patient’s Choice Award, Doctors Nova Scotia will make a $5,000 donation to a charity of the winning doctor’s choice. Dr. Virick has chosen to split the award, donating $4,500 to Loaves and Fishes in Sydney and $500 to Kids Help Phone.

Doctors Nova Scotia created the Patient’s Choice Award to give patients in the province an opportunity to celebrate their physicians. The award recognizes physicians who routinely go the extra mile in providing patient care, who have forged meaningful relationships with their patients and contribute to the well-being of their community, and who have made significant contributions to the medical profession through research, advocacy and education.

Your turn: Who would you nominate for the Patient’s Choice Award? Share your choice in the comment section below.

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