A new mobile-based social network for doctors has been launched by a London-based doctor.

MedShr is a private, professional network for doctors to share knowledge and improve their medical skills and has been set up by founder and CEO Dr Asif Qasim.

He said: “Case discussion is at the heart of how doctors learn, from medical school through to consultants and specialist surgeons. Talking about cases is critical to the way we share knowledge.

“We started online case discussion several years ago at a time when cardiologists were still posting CDs of coronary angiograms and scans to one another. We built a web platform that allowed doctors to upload, share and discuss images as part of a secure professional network. There was a fantastic response and developing MedShr was the next step.”

MedShr is working in partnership with SARD JV - a UK provider of appraisal software for doctors - to allow consultants to reflect on clinical cases for appraisal and revalidation.

It is also currently running a pilot that allows junior doctors in London to regularly submit cases to their training portfolio via the network.

MedShr's advisory board includes Martin Ellis, chairman of UK medical affairs, pharmaceutical marketing and medical education agency Havas-Medicom.

“Peer to peer learning, with user-generated content, has rapidly become mainstream information in a number of consumer sectors and MedShr is an important and logical extension of this proven learning model,” he said.

“Continuing medical education is an imperative in these days of rapid advances in medicine and MedShr will undoubtedly become a major source of information and best practice among healthcare professionals.”

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