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Wikipedia: A Key Tool for Global Public Health Promotion
James M Heilman1,2, MD CCFP(EM); Eckhard Kemmann3, MD FACOG;
Michael Bonert4, MD MASc; Anwesh Chatterjee5, MRCP; Brent Ragar6, MD;
Graham M Beards7, DSc; David J Iberri8; Matthew Harvey9,10, BMed;
Brendan Thomas11, MD; Wouter Stomp12, MD; Michael F Martone13;
Daniel J Lodge14, MD; Andrea Vondracek15, PhD; Jacob F de Wolff16, MRCP;
Casimir Liber17,18, MBBS FRANZCP; Samir C Grover19, MD MEd FRCPC;
Tim J Vickers20, PhD; Bertalan Meskó21, MD; Michaël R Laurent22, MD
1College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
2Department of Emergency Medicine, Moose Jaw Union Hospital, Moose Jaw,
SK, Canada
3Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Robert
Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New
Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
4Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto,
Toronto, ON, Canada
5Department of Respiratory Medicine, Poole General Hospital, Poole, United
Kingdom
6Departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Massachusetts General
Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
7Microbiology, Walsall Manor Hospital, Walsall, United Kingdom
8College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States
9Anatomical Pathology Department, Pathology Queensland, Royal Brisbane
and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
10Division of Cellular and Molecular Pathology, School of Medicine, University
of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia
11Department of Dermatology, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, United States
12Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden,
Netherlands
13Medical College, Rush University, Chicago, IL, United States
14Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
15Department of Immunology, School of Medicine and National Jewish Health,
University of Colorado, Denver, CO, United States
16Department of Acute Medicine, University College Hospital, London, United
Kingdom
17Department of Psychiatry, Bankstown Health Service, Sydney, NSW, Australia
18School of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of New South Wales,
Sydney, NSW, Australia
19Division of Gastroenterology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
20Department of Molecular Microbiology, School of Medicine, Washington
University, St. Louis, MO, United States
21Medical School and Health Science Center, University of Debrecen, Debrecen,
Hungary
22Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Corresponding Author:
Michaël R Laurent, MD
Department of Internal Medicine
University Hospitals Leuven
Herestraat 49
Leuven, B-3000
Belgium
Phone: 32 485 143267
Fax: 32 16 344307
Email: michael.laurent [at] gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The Internet has become an important health information resource for patients
and the general public. Wikipedia, a collaboratively written Web-based encyclopedia,
has become the dominant online reference work. It is usually among the top results
of search engine queries, including when medical information is sought. Since April
2004, editors have formed a group called WikiProject Medicine to coordinate and
discuss the English-language Wikipedia’s medical content. This paper, written by
members of the WikiProject Medicine, discusses the intricacies, strengths, and
weaknesses of Wikipedia as a source of health information and compares it with
other medical wikis. Medical professionals, their societies, patient groups, and
institutions can help improve Wikipedia’s health-related entries. Several examples
of partnerships already show that there is enthusiasm to strengthen Wikipedia’s
biomedical content. Given its unique global reach, we believe its possibilities for
use as a tool for worldwide health promotion are underestimated. We invite the
medical community to join in editing Wikipedia, with the goal of providing people
with free access to reliable, understandable, and up-to-date health information.
(J Med Internet Res 2011;13(1):e14)
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