Implementing a Spanish Wikipedia elective for medical students

Individuals seeking health information often turn to the Internet for answers. Wikipedia is a dynamic, crowdsourced encyclopedia and one of the most accessed online sources for this content. However, the Spanish Wikipedia is not nearly as in-depth as the English version, creating a large disparity. Medical students with English and Spanish proficiency possess a distinct skill set that positions them to contribute timely, trusted, evidence-based content to the platform and reduce this inequity.

This case study presents the implementation of a credit-bearing Spanish Wikipedia translation elective by the library for fourth-year medical students at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, currently the only Spanish Wikipedia elective in a medical school in the United States. The purpose of the course is to increase the quality and readability of medical articles in the English and Spanish versions of the online encyclopedia using evidence-based medicine (EBM) principles.

The output from this elective demonstrates that medical students can use their medical knowledge and skills to create and improve articles in English and Spanish on Wikipedia and disseminate evidence-based information to millions of consumers worldwide seeking reputable health information. Learners can leverage their specialized training to minimize the gap between these versions and become active participants in global health. By using technology to their advantage, they provide enduring health information that impacts and reaches many more people in a virtual setting than in a traditional one-on-one clinical encounter.