WikiProject Medicine is a hugely important initiative. As its parent
project, it has the potential to change the way clinicians and researchers
collaborate online by openly sharing information. This, with the sheer
volume of users makes this a powerful tool. However, there are two
problems with this project. The first is the inherent problem with
Wikipedia and the lack of a stringent review policy of the articles
published. Only a small minority of the active reviewers are experienced
clinicians and most contribute via a pseudonym. Secondly, the
dissemination of information is likely to be relatively slow as the
project is dependent on searches rather than other forms of information
delivery.

At the Yorkshire School of Surgery, we have been working on a project
to deliver knowledge directly to individuals called 'The School of
Surgery' (can be found at www.facebook.com/schoolofsurgery ). This
utilises the Facebook platform and provides our current 10,000 users with
up-to-date links to surgical news, evidence-based practice, meetings,
lectures and courses. Like a journal, this free resource is monitored by a
group of editors reviewing the latest publications on the web.

Facebook currently has 750 million users. However, it again has some
problems, not least of which is that most UK-based hospital Trusts block
access to the Facebook site. However, the feedback we are getting from
our users is that this resource is promoting education during periods of
the day that would normally be used for social activities. Such has been
the popularity of our site that we are developing pages in all other
medical specialities. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter with new
application technology may provide a method to overcome the some of the
issues with Wikipedia. Policing the information will continue to be a
problem unless dedicated editors are appointed.