The Internet is changing medicine and web 2.0 is the current buzz word in the world wide web dictionary. According to Dean Giustini in British Medical Journal, web 2.0 means “the web as platform” and “architecture of participation”. It is the web or internet information which is created by the users themselves.

Web 2.0 is about the spirit of sharing which is in contrast to the traditional concept of “knowledge is power”. Knowledge in the world of web 2.0 is about sharing and is nobody's property. Term that I personally use for web 2.0 and medicine is democratization of knowledge. As of today, Web 2.0 is an important repository of medical knowledge editable in real-time by physicians. It is in contrast to the static delivery of contents over the traditional internet hence the term Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 is primarily about the benefits of easy to use and free internet software. For example, blogs and wikis facilitate participation and conversations across a vast geographical expanse. Information pushing devices, like RSS feeds, permit continuous instant alerting to the latest ideas in medicine. Multimedia tools like podcasts and videocasts are increasingly popular in medical schools and medical journals.

Web 2.0 or the Web created by people themselves is the one of the biggest revolution in the world of information exchange, be it any field from politics to medicine blogs and wikis have influenced everthing.

In my own experience in blogging as a radiologist. I used my blog “Sumer's radiology Site” http://sumerdoc.blogspot.com or http://www.indianradiology.com to put up interesting current radiology information, cases from day to day practice and debates and got amazing response with many readers commenting on important issues and many patients coming with their radiological queries. Other noteworthy radiology Web 2.0 resources which have come up in past few years and already are creating a ripple in the world of radiology are- wikis like- Radiopaedia www.radiopaedia.org , and Radswiki www.radswiki.net, social networking sites like Radrounds www.radrounds.com, which provide useful information and social networking specifically for the radiologists.

In short, web 2.0 is not about big publishing houses or static information websites it's a dynamic, interactive and pulsating system wherein ordinary people like you and me can convey things and get responses. It is remarkably easy to begin today. You can edit, contribute and work on any article you'd like at wikipedia or blogs instantly. No software to learn or download, and there's no requirements for membership to become an editor.

This is only a beginning of democratization of knowledge in the field of radiology and healthcare in general and surely the future looks exciting.