Discover DNS Pathways
Ensuring a healthy physician workforce is a key part of Doctors Nova Scotia’s work.
DNS Pathways is your new online hub for physician wellness support, connecting you to all the programs and services offered by Doctors Nova Scotia (DNS) to help you improve your experiences at work and at home.
The DNS Pathways website includes the Professional Support Program, DNS leadership training and mentorship programs, and a round-up of our PSP counsellors’ favourite wellness resources. We’ve also added an all-new offering: Family Plus Counselling, which offers free counselling for physicians and their dependent family members.
Helping physicians thrive
Support is available to all non-student DNS members in any stage of practice, from medical residents and fellows to mid-career doctors to senior and retired physicians. No matter what your wellness journey looks like – improving your mental health, coping with substance use disorder, strengthening your leadership skills, building community as an international medical graduate or anything else – DNS Pathways is the place to start.
Guiding your journey
Clinical social worker Katelyn Junus is the association’s physician wellness navigator and your first point of contact for DNS Pathways – she’ll steer you toward the programs and services that best meet your needs. Katelyn is bound by the association’s confidentiality policy and registered with the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers. Contact Katelyn today.
Investing in your wellness
The 2023 Physician Agreement boosted the funding available for DNS’s physician wellness services and programs, giving DNS the opportunity to provide more upstream and comprehensive support to physicians. This has included enhancements to the PSP, the hiring of a dedicated physician wellness navigator, the creation of the DNS Pathways website, and the addition of Family Plus counselling services for DNS members and their families.
Restoring the joy in the practice of medicine
This work links back to the association’s long-standing commitment to strengthen the physician workforce and ensure that physicians can thrive, personally and professionally. Restoring the Joy in the Practice of Medicine is DNS’s physician wellness framework, which calls for developing physician leaders, supporting individual wellness, building connection and community among members, and helping physicians work together to influence system and organizational change in health care.
Sponsor recognition
The Canadian Medical Association, MD Financial Management Inc. and Scotiabank together proudly support the development of the DNS Pathways website, one of several initiatives that comprise their $115-million commitment to supporting the medical profession and advancing health in Canada. Learn more about affinity funding.