Getting Into FOAM -- the Content

As someone who is thinking about or planning a career in emergency medicine, you're joining an international group of people who love to create, share, and educate about emergency medicine. In this post we will talk about some of the fantastic resources out there, and how to start delving in and finding the things you like.

FOAM? What is FOAM?
FOAM stands for Free Open Access Meducation (that last differs depending on who you talk to). It is the core movement in EM to make medical education without borders whether they be geographic or temporal. If you are reading this, congratulations, you're already part of the movement. Now let's talk about the different options you have for consuming FOAM material.


Blogs
The easiest method of consuming FOAM is what you're doing right now - reading a blog. Like on this site blogs can have multiple types of media - video, audio, slideshow - but are generally text. The great thing about this is it's easy to look up and search for specific information.

That's why one of the best FOAM blogs out there is LITFL - Life in the Fast Lane. Aside from the constant march of new posts, they also have an extensive Critical Care Compendium that functions as a virtual textbook on many common topics in EM and critical care. Patient has a normal anion gap metabolic acidosis and you're not sure where to go from there? LITFL has a page on that in a version more convenient for quick learning than uptodate. They also have a fantastic ECG Collection to supplement your learning.

Check out the LITFL Review for the compiled best FOAM every week

Other amazing blogs (also listed on the side of our page):
EM Crit - An all around great website for critical care topics brought to the ED setting
ALiEM - Academic Life in Emergency Medicine with some great resources for students and residents here, like 10 Thing Your New Chiefs Want You to Know
Boring EM - Not sexy or glamorous, but this blog talks about the more important common, every day of EM, and what you need to know to work those cases at a high level

emDOCS - tons of great stuff, quick case based learning called "EM@3AM"

EMin5 - high-impact 5-minute videos you can watch again and again. 
Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - An amazing, if high level for most students, walkthrough of clinical cases with ECG/Echo
The Poison Review - Interesting, cool, and informative bits on toxicology, something sub-I's get less exposure to
EMIQ by the MedEdge Design Lab


Podcasts
Podcasts feel perfectly EM - quick, high yield, and something you can do on the go to maximize your time. Simply download a podcast app on your phone or use the default one provided (and you probably want this on your phone for maximal portability), search for the 'cast you want, and click the "Follow" button to start. Listen on the train, in the car, while running...anywhere you can make the most of your time. LITFL has a list of EM podcasts, but a two of our favorites are:
EM Basic - Perfect for the sub-I, runs down common diseases and chief complaints found in the ED and walks you through them step by step. If we could only recommend one podcast for the sub-I this would be it.
EM Crit - Also has podcasts in addition to the blog, and can listen right on the page (if you're sitting at a computer)


Videos

A large number of blog contain videos as part of their material that they put out, but Youtube itself has a wealth of videos at your disposal that can aid in your learning. From simply searching for thing like Rapid Sequence Intubation or Suture Techniques to following specific people and channels that interest you, Youtube is an amazing adjunct to your learning. A fair amount of videos show actual situations and patients (de-identified) so that it's really the next best thing to being in the ED for learning practical aspects of EM.

Best of all, you get a lot of interdisciplinary involvement - that video you watch on getting an IV might be made by an anesthesiologist, or on wound dressing from a nurse. Expanding who you learn from is always a good idea.

Presentations
Getting to EM conferences can be tough, especially for students and residents. That's why it is amazing when conference presentations can come to you, like the SMACC (Social Media and Critical Care) Conference or Essentials of EM.

Because EM is at the forefront of innovating education in medicine, these are not boring conference talks, but engaging, entertaining, and informative TED style talks that can leave you better informed about the current state of EM, or pump you up about EM (like the embedded video above from Essentials of EM 2014 conference).


What's Next?
This is a brief primer on getting started consuming FOAM as a sub-I. To really get the most out of FOAM, you need to actually get involved, which will be the focus of our next post.


Other favorite FOAM sites for sub-I's left out? Let us know in the comments!


Written by

Jonathan St. George, MD