Establishing trust is one of the most important bridges prospective patients need to cross in selecting a physician for fertility treatment. The couple needs to feel that the physician they select has the expertise and understanding to effectively handle their specific set of medical conditions.

A well rounded C.V. with good academic credentials and published research can satisfy the intellectual aspects of building trust. These things work to answer questions of medical expertise and ability.

Unlike other medical procedures however, building families is an emotional process as much as it is an intellectual one. Patients often explain that their final choice in selecting a fertility center was made because it just “felt right.”

The patient’s experience in the office and the physician’s ability to connect with them on an emotional level can play as much of a factor as where the doctor went to school or what they published. These more intangible factors can not be conveyed from reading a bio.

Video presents an excellent opportunity to start the process of building trust with prospective patients even before the initial consultation. We recently produced a set of videos for our client, Conceptions Reproductive Associates of Colorado, designed to specifically accomplish this goal.

View an example of Dr. Mark Bush’s video profile.

Here are some guidelines for making an effective video profile for fertility doctors:

• Be Relatable. Show your interests outside of work. Don’t go into too much detail about your academic and professional accomplishments.
• Be Authentic. Casual clothes are a plus. Loose the lab jacket for some of the shots. Show your family members and pets if possible.
• Be Passionate. Explain why you chose to spend your professional life helping people build their families.
• Be Personable. Relax, breathe, smile, slow your rate of speech and maintain a natural intonation in your voice.

Try to shoot at least half of the video outside of an office setting. Consider local attractions that might appeal to patients traveling from out of the area and shoot on location. Show some of your favorite activities outside of work.

In the office, include scenes from a mock consultation. You can use staff members as patients, just make sure they remove their scrubs and/or name badges.

If done well, the video should give prospective patients a feeling of what it will be like to meet with you in person. The more a patient knows about you and your office environment, the more uncertainty is removed and the closer they will be to making a treatment decision at your center.

If you’d like to discuss creating a custom video profile for you or your practice, please contact us to schedule a no cost, no obligation consultation.