Putting fun into function with QuizMed-an interactive medical application

QuizMed is a Web-based visual medicine application aiming to meet the following three distinct objectives: medical information resource, educational tool and professional communication and case discussion forum. The prototype-in-operation presents primarily dermatology and cytology images together with (optional) auxiliary case descriptions. These can be classified by the user with varying functionality depending on the user role. Anonymous users (e.g. students) can propose and submit a diagnosis for an existing image/case and view the statistical analysis of all previously given and recorded answers for it. Registered users (e.g. medical professionals) in addition can upload new images, including a clinical history, and submit comments to existing cases. This paper addresses the medical and technical goals challenges and solutions for the QuizMed application and describes the prototype. It presents a first set of evaluation analysis results that were collected from students and a variety of medical professionals during the initial phase of the live implementation. Can one application successfully serve as educational as well as communication tool? What sort of reaction will the application generate amongst healthcare users?.