Wikipedia can be a great resource for getting to know a field — and it can give you an encyclopaedic overview of a subject, acting as a spring-board letting you dive deeper. It should however not be used as your only source when performing research, and you should never blindly trust Wikipedia. Over the years quite a literature has been amassed surround the reliability and biases of Wikipedia.
To see some of the studies that have been produced on the quality and scope of medical information on Wikipedia take a look at some of the research:
On Wikipedia and Medicine
2016
Writing a Wikipedia Article on Cultural Competence in Health Care. Zhang & Lin Med Ref Serv Q — doi:10.1080/02763869.2016.1152143
2015
Influence of wikipedia and other web resources on acute and critical care decisions. a web-based survey. Rössler et al. Intensive Care Med Exp — doi:10.1186/2197-425X-3-S1-A867
By Wikipedians
2016
Medical journals and Wikipedia: a global health matter. Masukume G, Kipersztok L, Das D, Shafee TM, Laurent MR, Heilman JM. Lancet Global Health — doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(16)30254-6
Why Medical Schools Should Embrace Wikipedia: Final-Year Medical Student Contributions to Wikipedia Articles for Academic Credit at One School. Azzam A, Bresler D, Leon A, Maggio L, Whitaker E, Heilman J, Orlowitz J, Swisher V, Rasberry L, Otoide K, Trotter F, Ross W, McCue JD. Academic Medicine — doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000001381
2015
Wikipedia and medicine: quantifying readership, editors, and the significance of natural language. Heilman JM, West AG J Med Internet Res — doi:10.2196/jmir.4069
Open Access to a High-Quality, Impartial, Point-of-Care Medical Summary Would Save Lives: Why Does It Not Exist? Heilman J PLoS Med — doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001868
Dengue fever: a Wikipedia clinical review. Heilman JM, De Wolff J, Beards GM, Basden BJ. Open MedicinePMC4242787
2013
Cochrane and Wikipedia: the collaborative potential for a quantum leap in the dissemination and uptake of trusted evidence. Mathew M, Joseph A, Heilman J, Tharyan P. Cochrane Database of Systematic reviewsdoi:10.1002/14651858.ED000069
Online encyclopedia provides free health info for all. Interview by Fiona Fleck. Heilman J. Bulletin of the World Health Organizationdoi:10.2471/BLT.13.030113
2011
Wikipedia: a key tool for global public health promotion. Heilman JM, Kemmann E, Bonert M, Chatterjee A, Ragar B, Beards GM, Iberri DJ, Harvey M, Thomas B, Stomp W, Martone MF, Lodge DJ, Vondracek A, de Wolff JF, Liber C, Grover SC, Vickers TJ, Meskó B, Laurent MR. Journal of Medical Internet Researchdoi:10.2196/jmir.1589