According to a recent analysis of internet searches carried out by oladoc.com, a digital health company in Pakistan, it was revealed that 38 per cent of an all-patient-demand search for gynaecologists (women’s specialists), dermatologists (skin specialists) and paediatricians (child specialists) across the country.
Furthermore, Pakistanis are also increasingly searching for nutritionists, haematologists (blood specialists) and ophthalmologists (eye specialists), as these specialities have the highest online search growth rates.
According to experts at oladoc.com, 85 per cent of online searches for doctors take place in the three major cities; Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. However, residents of smaller cities have also started to look for specialist doctors online and this number will grow further as more doctors in these cities build their online profiles.
The online demand for these domains is growing more than 23 per cent with every passing month, highlighting a bright future ahead for doctors who have chosen to specialise in these fields.
Having said that, it is visible from the study that in smaller cities the online searches for neurologists, nephrologists and cosmetic surgeons is also growing rapidly.
Overall, the number of Pakistanis looking to find a doctor online is over 500,000 per month and given the 40 million large internet-savvy population of Pakistan, this number is set to grow rapidly in coming years.