Medpedia: A Wikipedia For Medicine. But Better.

Medpedia, a free online medical encyclopedia, went live today. But unlike Wikipedia, which has on occasion fallen victim to some spectacular prankster mistakes, Medpedia has an all star line-up of partnerships including Harvard Medical School, Stanford School of Medicine, Berkeley School of Public Health, University of Michigan Medical School and other health organizations.

Jenna Wortham:

Only trained professionals will be able to write and edit pages on the Web site, and all contributors will have individual author pages detailing their qualifications and backgrounds.

“We haven’t yet brought the basic Web 2.0 infrastructure to the medical industry,” [Internet entrepreneur James] Currier said. “Medicine is one of the least developed areas of the Internet, but could be the most transformed by it.”

Mr. Currier is aiming to build the most complete database of information from medical professionals and combine it with forums for consumers and patients to share treatment stories, raise questions and directly engage with the physicians editing Medpedia’s content.

CNet & TechCrunch have reviews. Here’s the press release.