Blair Ryan got the idea for Boondoc, a social network for physicians, when he read of a U.S. doctor unable to extract a reciprocating saw blade from a patient’s hand.

The blade was good and stuck, but rather than give up and amputate the hand, the doctor texted six other doctors, one of whom messaged back with a simple solution, and the hand was saved.

Ryan began to think:  what would it mean to healthcare if doctors could canvas thousands of colleagues, not just six?

Thus was born Boondoc, a Sackville, N.S.-based startup that Ryan hopes will soon link many of Canada’s 80,000 physicians so they can share knowledge and help save lives. The product will be displayed at DemoCamp Halifax on Sept. 23.

Ryan is a social entrepreneur who also runs The Empathy Factory, a not-for-profit organization devoted to getting children to use their empathy to effect social change. He sees social good in Boondoc, but he also believes the project can eventually turn a profit.

“This goes along with what I believe in, which is that it’s all about helping doctors to save Canadians,” he said.

Boondoc, which will soon begin beta-testing, will let doctors collaborate for free across specialties and provinces in real-time to discuss, question, and report on cases and findings that are of interest and importance. Ryan said the company has been working with the Department of National Defense to ensure the site has the highest level of security, and has been focusing on ease of use so doctors – especially older and less tech-savvy doctors – are not intimidated by the site.

Boondoc will require that physicians prove their credentials to be granted admission, which makes the network safe and exclusive.

The co-founders include Will Harris, who moved to Nova Scotia from Ontario to work on it, and Michael Clory, a physician who also has an MBA in finance.

The team considered nine different options for monetizing the project, and eventually settled on a plan to allow corporations such as pharma companies to pay to gain access to the site, so they can promote their products to doctors. Ryan said the rules of the site will dictate that no information provided by a doctor can leave the site without that doctor’s express permission.

He also said he has canvassed more than 50 physicians and received good feedback about the idea, and that similar sites in the U.S. are proving successful  -- both financially and in terms of helping doctors.

Ryan and his co-founders will be seeking capital. They would like to raise as much as $1.5 million but can continue bootstrapping with a raise of $400,000 to $500,000.