VOA慢速英语2015 Future Doctors Write, Edit for Wikipedia

 

Future Doctors Write, Edit for Wikipedia

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

Over the years, some teachers and editors have said they do not trust the information on the website Wikipedia. They say some of the people who provide the pieces for the website may not be qualified¹ to write them. But recently, an American medical school has provided an unusual course meant to aid doctors and other Wikipedia users.

Students at the medical school of the University of California, San Francisco are taking a class that teaches them how to write and edit for the WikiProject Medicine part of Wikipedia. Dr. Amin Azzam, a health sciences associate clinical professor, leads the course.  

Dr. Azzam asks his students to read Wikipedia, identify missing information and update pieces on the site. He says the students need to do this from their own medical knowledge and from dependable medical sources.

“What I hope to do in helping² them with this elective is to appreciate that the global system of Wikipedia is a system. Since Wikipedia is the fifth, sixth or seventh most heavily trafficked web page on the planet consistently, and since that’s where people go for medical information, perhaps our students can see themselves as citizens of the global, health-information-seeking community and make a difference that way.”

Fourth-year medical student Raquel Kronen signed up to take the course. She has medical knowledge.  Still, her writing needs improvement. Ms. Kronen says you need both skills to be a Wikipedia editor.

“You have to be able to know your information, transcribe³ your information in a way that’s appropriate for the general public, and then really, just, write in a clear fashion.”

Students first attend some intensive classes. A guide explains how to present material on Wikipedia. The writing must be understandable to people who read at the sixth-grade level. The piece must open with a four-sentence paragraph. All sentences must be less than 24 words. The writing also needs to be simple, because the articles are translated into 100 languages.

WikiProject Medicine has 32,000 health-related pages ranked in order by importance and quality.  Dr. Azzam’s students must improve one of the pages. They usually choose among the 100 lowest ranked. Students have updated articles on two liver diseases, diabetes⁴, white blood cells and race and health.

One of the highest-ranked pages tells about Ebola. That page has been viewed many millions of times.

James Heilman reduced his hours as a Canadian emergency room doctor to spend more time on the Ebola page. Ten or 12 others work with him. Dr. Heilman is one of few editors whose name is known. Identities of Wikipedia's volunteer editors generally are not given. 

Student Raquel Kronen said she chose an article on post-partum depression because she had a friend with the disorder⁵.  She started with what she described as a “pretty well-developed article.

“Changing some of the terminology⁶ to be more accessible, putting the ideas in a context that was easier to understand for someone without a medical background.”

Raquel Kronen said she is trying to decide what is useful to put in her chosen article. She said she keeps asking herself what her friend would want to know.

Dr. Azzam says editing for the online encyclopedia⁷ should be taught in every medical school. The doctor has come to trust Wikipedia’s health information. And, he is helping students learn to improve its accuracy.

Still, he tells people that it is best to confirm its information with other sources -- including doctors. 

Words in this Story

update – v.  to change something by including the most recent information

translate – v. to change words from one language into another language

rank – v. to place (someone or something) in a particular position among a group of people or things that are being judged according to quality, ability, size, etc.

view– v. to see, watch or look at a movie, TV show, a webpage, etc.

accuracy – n. freedom from mistake or error; correctness

1 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 transcribe   

v.抄写，誉写；改编(乐曲)；复制，转录

参考例句：

• We need volunteers to transcribe this manuscript.我们需要自愿者来抄写这个文稿。
• I am able to take dictation in English and transcribe them rapidly into Chinese.我会英文记录，还能立即将其改写成中文。

4 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

5 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

6 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。

7 encyclopedia   

n.百科全书

参考例句：

• The encyclopedia fell to the floor with a thud.那本百科全书砰的一声掉到地上。
• Geoff is a walking encyclopedia.He knows about everything.杰夫是个活百科全书，他什么都懂。