Vetting FOAM

Author: Jason Hine, MD FAAEM
Originally Published: Common Sense May/June 2017

Emergency medicine is a relatively young specialty. Compared to internal medicine and surgery, the two pillars of medicine, it is essentially a toddler. But with this youthfulness comes an advantage. It has allowed us to be on the forefront of medical education’s evolution. We have not been bound by traditions or volumes of ancient leather-bound texts handed down through generations. Our forefathers blazed a new trail in medicine and took with them many fresh thinkers and visionaries.

We have some of the most innovative and cutting-edge education of all medical specialties. We have pioneered new ways of teaching, actively seeking out and utilizing technologies as they develop. The most prominent has been FOAM, or free open-access medical education. This once small resource has grown to massive size. With growth, however, come challenges. While the ease of contribution has driven FOAM’s success, it has the downside of unregulated and unchecked production.

Haney Mallemat on Technology’s Role in EM Education and Training

Image Credit: Pixabay

Author: Ali Farzad, MD, AAEM/RSA Publications Committee Chair
Author: Linda J. Kesselring, MS, ELS, Copyeditor
Originally published: Common Sense July/August 2013

This article marks the last of a series that has aimed to highlight how you can use simple technology to make your learning more efficient and effective. In previous interviews with leaders in emergency medicine (EM) education — Drs. Mel Herbert, Amal Mattu, and Scott Weingart — we learned the value using free websites, blogs, podcasts, and ECG videos to stay current with medical information and save more lives. Continuing that theme, I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Haney Mallemat, MD FAAEM (@criticalcarenow), an EM/IM-trained critical care specialist who works in the adult emergency department at the University of Maryland Medical Center as well as the critical care ICUs in the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

A FOAM Favela

Photo Credit: Flickr Dany13

Author: Sean Weaver, DO MPH and Nathan Cleveland, MD MS
University of Nevada School of Medicine

Originally Published: Common Sense, November/December 2015

Favela is a term from Brazilian Portuguese that refers to a heavily populated, urban, informal settlement. In other words, a shanty town. Born out of necessity, favelas look disorganized, haphazard, temporary, and chaotic. To its inhabitants, however, the favela represents a vibrant and constantly evolving community built on cooperative living. This vibrancy has led to some of Brazil’s most famous cultural contributions. Samba, capoeira, and funk all came from favelas.[1]

Free Open-Access Meducation (FOAM) is the favela of medical education. Early adopters of social media in emergency medicine and critical care began sharing information through Facebook, Twitter, podcasts, and blogs. As connections were made, experts began spontaneously discussing ideas and practice habits. These conversations were open to the public and anyone could participate. Over time, a structure began to develop and the number of participants increased.[2] In 2012, over a pint of Guinness, emergency physicians Sean Rothwell and Mike Cadogan named this informal online community “FOAM.”[3]

How to Dive into the FOAMed Movement

Authors: Meaghan Mercer, DO, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
                AAEM/RSA President

                Mary Calderone, MSIV, Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, Chicago
                Medical Student Council President

What is FOAM? — This is not the future of medicine, it is medical education NOW! Like many great ideas that evolve in medicine, the concept of FOAM (Free Open Access Meducation) project was born in a pub over a pint of Guinness. Doctors Mike Cadogan and Chris Nickson  from lifeinthefastlane.com (LITFL), recognized that social media has changed how we communicate and educate; ideas traverse the globe in hours allowing an open interactive approach to how we learn and practice medicine. As one of the education leaders of AAEM and greatest teachers of our specialty, Dr. Joe Lex, stated, “If you want to know how we practiced medicine 5 years ago, read a textbook. If you want to know how we practiced medicine 2 years ago, read a journal. If you want to know how we practice medicine now, go to a (good) conference. If you want to know how we will practice medicine in the future, listen in the hallways and use FOAM.” FOAM is the concept, enacted via the Internet. #FOAMed is the conversation, enacted via Twitter.

FOAM — This is not the future of medicine, it is medical education NOW!

Originally Published: Common Sense, Jul/Aug 2013

Original Author: Meaghan Mercer, DO AAEM/RSA President

Like many great ideas in medicine, the concept of FOAM (Free Open Access Meducation) project was born in a pub over a pint of Guinness. Doctors Mike Cadogan and Chris Nickson, from www.lifeinthefastlane.com (LITFL), recognized that social media has changed how we communicate and educate. Ideas now traverse the globe in hours, allowing an open and interactive approach to how we learn and practice medicine. As one of the fathers of AAEM and greatest teachers of our specialty, Dr. Joe Lex, stated,