Photo: Jono Rotman; Grooming by Bryan Lynde

From Langdon Jenkins, Group Copy Supervisor, Palio

I’m still a big fan of magazines. Sure, the iPad is great, but it’s not a magazine. Just like the Kindle is not a book. Anyways, I subscribe to many magazines –– Fortune, Consumer Reports, Entertainment Weekly, This Old House, Martha Stewart Everyday Living (for the wife, mind you), the Christian Science Monitor, and New York Magazine.

By far, my favorite among them is New York Magazine. Their writers have a good mix of quick-hitting one-page articles and in-depth feature stories. And, although it’s based in New York City, it’s relevant wherever you live.

This week’s issue features their annual “Best Doctors” list. They have over 1,000 doctors in the NYC area rate each other and then list the results. Within this year’s list is, to me, a hidden gem – a series of 8 profiles entitled “My Toughest Case.”

Ranging from “Treating a contract killer” to “Saving a lightning-strike victim,” these profiles explore what we in the pharmaceutical advertising industry often forget: what it’s really like to be a doctor.

To us, doctors are “confident achievers” or “collaborative idealists” who we hope a rep will get 30 seconds with to detail why our treatment is right for the doctor’s patients. To us, doctors are physicians who treat patients with COPD, or whose practice includes a population of patients currently on Medicare Part D. But after you read the profiles in New York Magazine, you may change that perception to “someone who called her mom and cried after a 6-hour surgery” or “someone who keeps photographs of his patients in his office.”

Before you kick off your next creative project directed at physicians and are crafting a Creative Brief, I encourage you to read some or all of the “My Toughest Case” profiles. Let them sink in, and then ask yourself again, “Who are we talking to?” You may be surprised at how your perception has changed with the new context that this article provides. And in our world of cookie-cutter creative, changing perception is most always a change in the right direction.

So where are the profiles? You can either buy the issue that’s out now (New York Magazine, Best Doctors 2010 issue, June 14-21) or view the profiles online – here’s a good one.

If you click on the above link, you can access the other profiles from the article as well. I don’t know how long they’ll be active, so visit them soon if it interests you… and if you’re interested in taking a fresh look at the target audience of physicians.