HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia doctors say they badly need a raise, arguing low pay and poor working conditions are exacerbating an already-severe doctor shortage.

Three doctors' organizations called on the province Wednesday to act immediately to "stabilize the physician workforce."

They said Nova Scotia physicians are among the lowest paid in the country, while they should be at least "middle of (the) pack."

Halifax – Doctors Nova Scotia, Maritime Resident Doctors and the Dalhousie Medical Students’ Society released a position paper, Road Map to a Stable Physician Workforce, which calls on the provincial government to take immediate action to stabilize the physician workforce in Nova Scotia.

Physicians in Nova Scotia are calling for better pay and a range of other enhancements to help the province retain and recruit doctors in what they say is a "critical time" for the province.

Doctors Nova Scotia, a group representing about 3,500 doctors, issued a joint position paper Wednesday with the Dalhousie Medical Students' Society and Maritime Resident Doctors. The latter group represents nearly 500 resident physicians in Dalhousie's postgraduate medicine program.