A study, published on Oct 31st, 2017 in the Journal of Medical Internet Research Medical Education, has found that Wikipedia helps Canadian medical students improve their knowledge of medical content. Wikipedia was compared to UpToDate, a subscription based online medical resource, and a standard medical textbook.
The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial of 116 medical students from four Canadian medical schools. Students initially wrote a multiple choice exam similar to that used for licensing Canadian physicians. They were then randomized to one of three electronic resources, Wikipedia, UpToDate, or Harrison’s textbook of Internal Medicine and had 30 minutes to use their assigned resource. During this time, they were observed for compliance and had the opportunity to take notes. The students then rewrote their original exam, armed with the notes taken while using their resource.
The primary outcome was improvement in tests scores before and after accessing the assigned resource. The authors found that medical students assigned to Wikipedia had a statistically significant greater improvement in test scores, compared to the medical textbook and a trend towards improved performance as compared to UpToDate.
Full study available under an open license at https://mededu.jmir.org/2017/2/e20/