Web-based education in anesthesiology: a critical overview.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The purpose of this review is to discuss the rise of web-based educational resources available to the anesthesiology community.

RECENT FINDINGS

Recent developments of particular importance include the growth of 'Web 2.0' resources, the development of the concepts of 'open access' and 'information philanthropy', and the expansion of web-based medical simulation software products.In addition, peer review of online educational resources has now come of age.

SUMMARY

The worldwide web has made available a large variety of valuable medical information and education resources only dreamed of two decades ago. To a large extent,these developments represent a shift in the focus of medical education resources to emphasize free access to materials and to encourage collaborative development efforts.