MedBro: a reference for doctors comparing Russian and international guidelines
For a long time, Russian doctors have been unable to access up-to-date medical information: UpToDate is blocked, Notion is unavailable, and traditional guidelin
Russian clinical recommendations lag behind international guidelines by an average of two years. This is not simply lost time — it is a difference in methodologies, dosages, and diagnostic quality. The young startup MedBro decided to close this gap: it created a free reference guide that shows the doctor international recommendations and the Russian position side by side.
Why Doctors Lost Access
Previously, Russian doctors could rely on foreign sources. UpToDate — the leading database for clinicians worldwide — was accessible in Russia and used by the majority of private clinics. When it was blocked, some medical professionals tried to bypass the restrictions using foreign SIM cards and VPNs, but these loopholes were gradually closed as well.
Notion also disappeared in parallel, where doctors had spent years collecting treatment templates, diagnostic checklists, and working documents. Everything scattered across Telegram chats and private notes — information fell apart, structure was lost. Classic Russian clinical recommendations are published on the website of the Ministry of Health, but they lag behind world practice by several years.
A doctor works according to instructions written for a situation from three to four years ago, while medicine moves fast: new diagnostic markers appear, dosage thresholds change, unknown side effects of drugs are discovered.
How MedBro Works
The idea for the app was born not in an office, but at home — at the dinner table. The creator's wife works as a doctor at the Moscow Fomina clinic and told about the problem of access to current information. The authors decided to act according to startup methodology: they conducted interviews with doctors, validated the hypothesis, built an MVP. MedBro presents each guideline as a dual column:
- Left — international recommendation (UpToDate, WHO, other authoritative sources)
- Right — the corresponding position from the Russian clinical guideline with the year of publication indicated
- Differences are explicitly highlighted: different diagnostic thresholds, dosages, alternative methodologies
The platform operates at medbro.pro and is adapted for mobile devices. There is a ready Android app; the iOS version is under review. Technically, the product uses a knowledge graph — a structured repository linking concepts, drugs, and conditions. A doctor does not simply read text but navigates between related recommendations.
What Is Ready
MedBro has loaded about 80 clinical guidelines across various specialties. By the end of May, the authors plan to cover the main areas: cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology, pulmonology, and others. They will add a personal doctor account with bookmarks, personal notes, and a "working notebook" of useful recommendations. The service remains completely free. Financing is built not on payments, but on the idea of helping Russian medical professionals in conditions of information isolation.
What This Means
The blocking of foreign medical sources created a real gap in the quality of Russian healthcare. MedBro is a local solution that operates within modern constraints and gives doctors a tool to compare approaches and make informed choices. The clinical knowledge graph that the authors built is the beginning of infrastructure for internal development of medicine, when the world standard is brought locally, without intermediaries.