Last year was a record year for doctors using the internet as a source of professional information and for communicating in times of medical emergency, the physician networking site Doctors.net.uk has reported. Doctors.net was host to 25 million unique web sessions in 2009, with one spike in activity focused, not unexpectedly, around the swine 'flu outbreak in April that year. Reportedly, there has also been a marked increase in use of online multimedia — more than one in eight Doctors.net members accessed podcasts in Q4, and the number of those clicking through to medical conference highlights showed a near five-fold increase since 2007. 

Dr Tim Ringrose, medical director at Doctors.net.uk, commented: "With doctors becoming more and more online savvy, the onus is now on the healthcare sector — whether pharmaceutical, medical devices, public sector or otherwise — to tune in and respond to the new challenges and opportunities presented by online engagement."