You know his name. One of America’s favorite small screen doctors, Donald Faison, hasn’t come close to saving an actual life – until now. As part of a new campaign with Cigna, the “Scrubs” alum will be featured in ads alongside more of America’s most iconic TV doctors, including Patrick Dempsey ("Grey's Anatomy"), Alan Alda ("M*A*S*H"), Noah Wyle ("ER"), and Lisa Edelstein ("House"), with the hope of conveying to people the importance of an annual check-up as well as taking control of their health.
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According to the CDC, up to 100,000 lives a year could be saved if people received their preventive care, which often begins with seeing a doctor #IRL (in real life) for an annual check-up. Additionally, Americans only use preventive services at about half the recommended rate, even though preventive care is free with most insurance.
The importance? Regular health exams can pinpoint health issues early on or even prevent them before they begin, increasing your chances for proper treatment. In fact, by seeking out the right health services, people are taking steps to increase their chances for living a longer, healthier life.
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BlackDoctor.org recently spoke with Faison who stressed the importance of preventive care, working alongside “real life” doctors and much more.
BlackDoctor.org: What inspired you to get involved with Cigna’s new campaign?
Donald Faison: It was a no brainer, really. They [Cigna] were doing the whole TV doctor theme and they asked me to partner. I have two very young children. The campaign is all about [preventive] care and I want to be around when my young kids are my age – I’m 42-years-old now. So, that would make me 84-years-old.
The only way I have a good chance of that – anything can happen – is taking control of my health. That means, knowing my key numbers, BMI, cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure. Knowing these things is very important – in case there are life changes you need to make, you can get ahead of them. A lot of times, people wait until it is too late. If we can save 100,000 lives this year, I’m for that!
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BlackDoctor.org: What is the importance of getting an annual exam?
Donald Faison: “There are so many reasons why getting an annual exam is important. Along with early detection [like I spoke on earlier] comes the opportunity to better treat health issues – possibly even cure what you’re facing. The best part is, most of this is probably covered by your [insurance] provider. “
BlackDoctor.org: What has you experience been like working with America’s favorite TV doctors?
Donald Faison: It was awesome! When we were doing “Scrubs, “M*A*SH” set the bar – in the way they portrayed the war. When you look at a lot of hospital shows, all you see is tragedy, tragedy, tragedy – that is what you see in hospitals – what you don’t know or maybe what you don’t know is that these doctors are not super human, they’re human. What we tried to do on “Scrubs” is say ‘look we do have an extraordinary job but the only way we can get through this [saving lives] is comedy – to make light of the situation.
I always felt like “M*A*SH” accomplished that balance. So, I was very, very happy when I got to meet Alan Alda. I remember being a kid, hearing the “M*A*SH” theme song and thinking that was one of the coolest songs ever. I always thought he was a good actor. But meeting him and seeing that he was so cool and chill and open to talk about just about anything, made the shoot so much better. It was also great working with Noah, Patrick and Lisa. Don’t get it twisted. There was just something special about Alan because I grew up on “M*A*SH.
BlackDoctor.org: How can people get involved?
Donald Faison: You can go to cigna.com/takecontrol and get involved that way. More importantly, another way to get involved is to go out and get your annual check. Preventive care is really where it starts.
Up next, Faison tells us, he’s “about to go to Cleveland to shoot a movie, “Little Evil.” He’s also got a game show, “Winsanity,” on GSN. Combine that with his daddy duties and the actor’s got a full plate. Check out Donald Faison on Twitter or Instagram for more.
Check out the TV doctors in action in the video below.
