Medpedia Site Makes Debut

Medpedia—an online collaborative medical encyclopedia affiliated with Harvard Medical School—debuted Tuesday after months of closed beta testing, receiving 12,000 unique visits on its first day, according to its founder.

James M. Currier, the Web site’s founder and chairman, said that the encyclopedia solicits advice and articles from medical professionals, including HMS professors, in an effort to serve as an accessible, comprehensive source for health-related information, which he said involves too much paper-pushing and not enough technology at present. He said that 5,000 medical professionals signed up to edit the Web site on the day of its premiere.

“The old model of medical knowledge development and creation is paper-based, hierarchal, and closed,” he said. “The new model has to be web-based, collaborative, and open.”

Currier, who is a graduate of the Business School, said that Medpedia’s institutional relationship with Harvard Medical School is limited to the right to use its name and seal on the Web site. Individual faculty members are not obligated to contribute or edit articles. HMS Professor Joseph B. Martin, a former dean of the Medical School, serves on Medpedia’s Board of Advisers. Currier said that “a small percentage” of articles on Medpedia were authored by HMS professors.

“We’ve taken content in from only the most prestigious and reputable sources,” Currier said. He added, however, that because medical decisions should be based on the advice of personal doctors, “ultimately, we can’t be authoritative.”

To ensure that content is accurate, Medpedia requires writers and editors to verify their medical credentials before participating.

Professors from the Medical School, Stanford’s School of Medicine, UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, and the University of Michigan Medical School have all contributed to the Web site.

Medical professionals who have signed up to edit the site have praised Medpedia for its potential to bridge the gap between doctors and patients.

Michael N. Strong, a post-doctoral fellow at HMS, said the Web site’s distinguishing feature is the option to view articles in either “plain English” or “clinical” terms.

“I originally signed up out of curiosity, and I think the goals they’ve set up are excellent goals,” he said.

HMS Assistant Professor of Medicine Graham T. McMahon said that Medpedia could enhance doctor-patient interaction.

“I just thought it would be a way to make a contribution to patient education,” said McMahon, an endocrinologist.

But only time will tell how Medpedia will impact the practice of medicine, according to Ishir Bhan ’96, an instructor in medicine at HMS.

“We haven’t really had this sort of thing in medicine,” Bhan said. “If it’s active enough, you could have the benefit of experts without having to pay for it.”