Medpedia

Posted on 20 May, 2009

Medpedia is an attempt to apply crowdsourcing concept to medical knowledge, just like Wikipedia. It launched in beta mid-February this year, with some big names backing it (Harvard, Stanford, NHS, AHA, ACP to name a few). The idea is to create a collaborative body of knowledge using physicians and Ph.Ds as gatekeepers.

Anyone can contribute- physicians/Ph.Ds become directors editors (after approval) and others can give suggestions that queue up for editorial review. The site has modest traction but not enough to differentiate it from other wiki-like approaches in healthcare like Ganfyd.org, wikiDoc.org, WikiMD, AskDrWiki and many others (see David Rothman’s extensive list of medical wiki’s here)

There is potential in the wiki-approach, but I’m not holding my breath. Wikipedia may have reached a size and popularity threshold that it remains useful with the community self-policing content effectively, but it was a long an painful journey to that point. Right now the medical wiki space is too fragmented to have an impact.

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