Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is The Guide Program? We are building a team of Guides who get paid to create WisdomCards. We believe that human guides who are experienced at Web research and specialized physicians can do a better job at finding and organizing the world's best health information than machine-generated search engines can on their own.
Our Guides and Reviewers provide a valuable service to people who need to find trusted, credible and useful health information by creating great search results pages (which we call WisdomCards), featuring links to the world's best health wisdom.
2. What's the Difference between a Guide and a Physician Reviewer? Anyone over the age of 13 can apply to become an OrganizedWisdom Guide and create WisdomCards. Most of our Guides are adults with experience as patient advocates, caregivers, health-care workers, or freelance writers. Only board-certified physicians can apply to become a Physician Reviewer. Physician Reviewers are responsible with working with our editorial team to review and approve each WisdomCard.
3. How can I become a Guide? Click on this link to start your signup. We review applications twice a month and we will contact you within 30 days. Once your application is reviewed and accepted, you will be able to claim your first WisdomCard topic.
4. What makes a good Guide? If you have a passion for helping people and are proficient at finding information on the Web you will likely make an excellent Guide. We have Guides who are patient advocates, nurses, caregivers, stay at home parents, students, residents, physicians, health bloggers, web researchers, librarians, and people from health foundations.
5. What is a WisdomCard and why is it more credible than machine-generated search results? A WisdomCard is a carefully crafted page linking to the very best information and resources on a particular health topic. Because each WisdomCard is created by a Guide like you, checked by an editor, and reviewed by at least one Physician Reviewer, we are able to provide relevant, reliable results that are free of spam and distractions. A WisdomCard gives you links to one easy-to-use page of content and resources that actually give you the information you need and help you take positive actions. WisdomCards also highlight the best user-generated content so that we can guide people to practical wisdom, patient stories, advice, and recommendations.
6. How much work is involved in creating a WisdomCard? We've found that once you get used to the process and get a rhythm going, a WisdomStub takes about 20-30 minutes to create. It may take longer depending on the topic. We take great care with how we accept a WisdomCard so please be sure to submit only high-quality WisdomCards. The editing process is intended to maintain the highest quality -- if your WisdomCard is returned for required edits, use the process to learn and you'll have fewer edits next time.
7. Do I have to finish my WisdomCards in a set time period? Once you claim a WisdomCard, you may take as long as needed to work on that topic. However, if a WisdomCard sits on your dashboard untouched for 15 days or longer, it will be considered "abandoned" and once it is put back into the unclaimed pool and picked up by another Guide you will not be paid for any work you put into the WisdomCard. This applies both before you have submitted it for review and after you've gotten it back from the review team with required edits. We don't like to see Guides lose the work they've put into a WisdomCard, so please just remember not to let your work sit untouched for 15 days.
8. What does a WisdomCard look like? See the examples of recently-approved, high-quality WisdomCards. Or simply visit our homepage to see the latest WisdomCards. Do not try to create WisdomCards until you have looked at some on our site to understand our format.
9. How much do Guides get paid for the WisdomCards they create? When your WisdomCard is approved and published on OrganizedWisdom, we'll pay you or donate money to your favorite charity. The vast majority of our current topics are WisdomStubs. WisdomStubs are WisdomCards that contain less than four sections; this includes brand name drug WisdomCards and news WisdomCards, as well as any other topic that qualifies as a WisdomStub. These WisdomStubs are paid $4 each.
If we don't approve the WisdomCard, you won't be paid for that WisdomCard, but you will have the opportunity to improve it based on feedback and re-submit it. This helps us ensure that all of our WisdomCards are great.
10. Who owns the WisdomCards I create? You own your content until OrganizedWisdom agrees to buy the WisdomCard and adds it to OrganizedWisdom.com. You retain ownership of a page if OrganizedWisdom does not buy it. See the Guide Terms of Service for more details.
11. Do Guides and Reviewers get credit if their WisdomCards are published on OrganizedWisdom? Absolutely! If we buy a WisdomCard from a Guide and add it to OrganizedWisdom.com, the WisdomCard will credit the Guide as the original author of the page. We also list the editors and physician reviewers. Guides will have the opportunity to create author bios highlighting their expertise.
12. What topics can we create WisdomCards on? We have hundreds of topics in our unclaimed WisdomCard category. Guides are free to choose whatever topics appeal to them. If you are an expert or have experience in any specific health topic, you can also suggest new topics that are missing. We want you to create WisdomCards on health topics you find interesting.
13. What does it mean to be a Certified Guide? We'd like every part time Guide that enters our program to become certified. We want a great team doing great work. Becoming certified means that our medical director and reviewers think you are capable of producing consistent, high-quality work. Being certified also means expedited reviews, faster WisdomCard production, and therefore potential to make even more money. Not to mention the cool title!
We provide on-the-job training to new part time Guides. We'll work closely with you and provide helpful feedback to help you learn our process. After your first 25 WisdomCards have been approved, you'll become certification-eligible. If you do not pass our certification review, we'll pay you for any approved WisdomCards you've created, but you won't be able to remain in our program.
14. How does the certification process work? To be eligible, a part time Guide must have had a minimum of 50 WisdomCards approved. A random selection of 10 WisdomCards are physician reviewed for a number of important quality markers, and we also take note of the manner in which you interact with our staff (we love Guides with a positive attitude and professional demeanor). A feedback report is then sent to the Guide with our final assessment.
15. Who do I contact if I have questions or need help? Email guides [at] organizedwisdom.com with any questions.
