McCann Romania Puts 'Dr. Internet' to the Test to Tackle Self Diagnosis

In an effort to raise awareness about the risks of online self-diagnosis, Regina Maria, a leading Romanian private healthcare network – in partnership with Vice Magazine and McCann Worldgroup Romania - put the Internet to the supreme test by asking 'Dr. Internet' to answer the questions from the national medical residency exam.

In a country where antibiotics were sold in pharmacies without a prescription until 2005, and where 3 out of 4 Romanians self-diagnose and consequently self-medicate, Regina Maria wanted to take a stand and promote regular medical check-ups as opposed to using Google to diagnose a medical condition.

On the day of the national residency exam, Vice journalist Mihai Popescu took the exam along with hundreds of real doctors, in the exact same conditions. But instead of medical training or studies, the journalist just had unlimited internet access to answer the 200 questions in four hours.

The result? The journalist failed brilliantly, scoring 36 correct answers out of 200.

Catalin Dobre, CCO McCann Worldgroup Romania & regional CD McCann Central East Europe, commented: “Searching for symptoms online is a problem, but self medicating can be a disaster. This is the issue Romania is facing. People got used to taking medication without even coming close to a real doctor. Imagine, not so many years ago people could buy antibiotics from the pharmacy with no prescription and sometimes use them to treat something like a simple cold. Having this problem got us thinking – how can we start a conversation and convince people that an Internet search cannot replace a visit to the doctor? So we figured – if people are using the Internet as a doctor, let’s test it like a doctor. Like a real one."

Greta Redeleanu, marketing director REGINA MARIA, commented: “As leader in the quality of medical services, we have a responsibility towards patients and we believe it’s out duty to invest in educational and prevention campaigns. Even if we are not doctors, but marketing professionals, we understand the responsibility we all have: not just to do good, but to develop relevant campaigns and initiatives to change mentalities, to raise awareness regarding the importance of going to the doctor for periodical health checks and screenings, appropriate for every age category."