A new form of interactive web symposium that turns doctors' vivid questions and concerns from the clinical front line into academic content is drawing attention, while cumulative participation in Dr. Ville's 'Mystery Q&A' has risen sharply.
According to Dr. Ville, the first session of 'Mystery Q&A' in 2023 drew 3,100 participants, while the 13th session held recently attracted 5,984 people, nearly doubling the turnout.
The series is defined by two-way communication that breaks away from the one-way lecture format of typical web symposiums. If frontline medical staff, including private practitioners and hospital-based doctors, submit questions in advance about uncertainties or difficult cases they encountered during treatment, experts in the relevant field provide answers and treatment strategies based on those cases. Each session receives at least 80 and as many as 300 advance questions and case submissions.
It is widely regarded as highly practical among medical professionals because it shares decision-making criteria and know-how that can be applied immediately in the clinic, including differential diagnosis standards, interpretation of test results, and treatment strategies for challenging situations that cannot be answered definitively by textbooks or the latest guidelines alone.
Originally centered on gastroenterology, 'Mystery Q&A' has recently expanded significantly into multidisciplinary discussions involving experts from allergy and immunology, pulmonology, and cardiology. At the 13th session, the program took an in-depth look at clinical issues that sit at the boundaries of multiple specialties, including differential diagnosis of chronic cough, treatment strategies for chronic urticaria, severity assessment in Crohn's disease, and the differential diagnosis of ischemic bowel disease.
The organizers said the program has built a virtuous cycle in the academic ecosystem by extending the scholarly value generated in online web symposiums beyond one-off events and into offline settings. After the main questions and clinical cases discussed at the seminar are compiled into the 'CRG (Case Reviews in Gastroenterology) casebook,' they are posted sequentially on the Dr. Ville platform, offering medical professionals ongoing learning opportunities.
Lee Jun-haeng, a professor of gastroenterology at Samsung Seoul Hospital who has served as chair since the first session of the 'Mystery Q&A' series, said, "Medical professionals long not only for theoretical knowledge, but also for interpretation and shared experience regarding complex clinical situations they face in the field." He added, "I hope practical academic programs continue to expand in the future."
Kim So-hyeong, Sportschosun
