* No industry money funds this site
* Edited by physicians and health professionals
* Up-to-the-minute news on clinically relevant items

Funding source

The goal of this site is to create an independent space on the internet for physicians to report and comment on the medical news of the day. Doctors should get their medical news from other doctors; right now they are having to rely on press releases, drug reps, and newspapers.

This space is entirely funded by me, Michael Benjamin, M.D., as a hobby and service to the medical community. I also maintain the open-source software and provide content.

By avoiding the use of industry money for the site, we hope to eliminate commercial bias in our content. This site will be one of the few completely independent medical information sources on the internet, if not in the general media.

Philosophy

I try to maintain a certain amount of humility in practice. Any honest physician who sees enough patients will encounter the unexpected often enough to remain humble. My perspective is that there is always more to learn, and that each passing year brings with it a more complete understanding of how our bodies work and how medicine can improve health.

The scientific method continues to be the best way to learn the truth. If a better way comes along, we will make use of it. We are rationalists here. More about this below.

Editorial control

Anybody can post a story or comment to the site, but all stories and comments will be reviewed by clinician reviewers. They may edit or delete content. To post new content, please create an account. Any new account with verifiable credentials will be promoted to editor status by the editorial staff. Content providers can become InteractMD.com shareholders--ask how!

This site is founded with the goal of educating the public and clinical doctors about the latest useful medical news. Clinical relevance is very difficult to define, but it should remain defined by people who see patients every day, and who have a background in clinical medicine. Our "value-added" is in whittling the forest of daily medical news down into the two or three stories a day that really make a difference in patient care.

Content guidelines

At InteractMD.com, we strive for content that is current, helpful to clinical care, and based on the scientific method. We believe that medical news offers hope to millions of disease sufferers all over the world--each day, new medications come out, we learn how to use existing medications better, and we uncover new ways of leading healthier lives.

Health information, especially for physicians, is quite fragmented, with new data coming to us in faxes, emails, mailed journals, and word of mouth. I think there should be a centralized repository of new medical knowledge, which clinicians and patients can use as a jumping-off point when they hear something new.

Here's our content guidelines:

* No rants. The last thing the web needs is another doctor ranting about burnout, insurance companies, or drug companies.
* News should be new. We're just not that interested in "me-too" drugs or "patent-extender" drugs. If results have already appeared before, we will usually pass, unless the lay press coverage is disproportionately large.
* We prefer a short lead-time to clinical relevance, preferably today. Patients want new treatments and tests today, not six months from now. If a discovery is very unexpected and exciting, I may profile it even if the relevancy is low. We also reserve the right to post info on stem cell research, the future of medicine.
* We keep an open mind about "alternative" treatments, but we won't seriously consider anything that has no scientific data behind it. So this means we are a "no magical thinking zone."

Won't you consider joining us in our quest for fast, objective, relevant medical news?

Enjoy,

Michael Benjamin, M.D.

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