Medicine:Free Open Access Medical Education

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Short description: Collection of online resources for medicine

Free Open Access Medical Education (FOAM or FOAMed) is a dynamic collection of online resources and tools designed to promote lifelong learning in emergency medicine. The term was coined in June 2012 at the International Conference on Emergency Medicine in Dublin.[1]

Description

The FOAM movement arose in response to the broader Open Educational Resources (OER) movement, reflecting the growing demand for freely available, high-quality educational materials.[2] It gained momentum with the rapid growth of social media and digital platforms, which revolutionised how medical information is accessed and shared.[3]

FOAM is defined by its accessibility via online text- and media-sharing platforms[1] and incorporates formats such as blogs, podcasts, and social media posts. More formal learning resources such as online question banks, YouTube videos, and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), are also components of FOAM.[2]

Impact

FOAM is highly popular among medical students and clinicians. For example, a 2014 survey of emergency medicine residents in the state of Utah found the online audio series EM:RAP was used by some 80% of residents.[4] The accessibility of FOAM materials is considered foundational to the wide dissemination of current medical knowledge, particularly in underserved regions.[5] However, concerns have been raised about the lack of formal peer review and quality control over many FOAM materials.[6] Resource creation is often geographically concentrated, potentially excluding perspectives from lower-resource regions.[5]

Notable FOAM resources

Platform Country of origin Year founded Primary Focus Target Audience
Academic Life in Emergency Medicine (ALiEM) United States 2009 Emergency medicine education and leadership Emergency medicine professionals
CanadiEM Canada 2015 Emergency medicine and critical care Healthcare professionals and trainees[2]
Don't Forget The Bubbles Australia 2013 Paediatric medicine Paediatricians, healthcare professionals, and parents[7]
EMCrit United States 2009 Critical care and emergency medicine Critical care specialists and emergency physicians[8]
Life in the Fast Lane Australia 2007 Emergency medicine and critical care Global healthcare professionals[9]
MedShr United Kingdom 2015 Case-based learning Medical students and healthcare professionals[10]
PaediatricFOAM Global 2017 Paediatrics and critical care Healthcare providers and students[7]
REBEL EM United States 2013 Emergency medicine and critical care Medical professionals[11]
St. Emlyn's United Kingdom 2012 Emergency medicine education Healthcare professionals and students[12]
The Resus Room United Kingdom 2015 Emergency medicine and resuscitation Healthcare professionals[13]

See also

  • Open Educational Resources
  • Medical Education

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nickson, CP; Cadogan, MD (2014). "Free Open Access Medical Education (FOAM) for the Emergency Physician". Emerg Med Australas 26 (1): 76–83. doi:10.1111/1742-6723.12191. PMID 24495067. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Cadogan, M; Thoma, B; Chan, TM; Lin, M (2014). "Free Open Access Meducation (FOAM): The Rise of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Blogs and Podcasts (2002–2013)". Emerg Med J 31 (e1): e76–e77. doi:10.1136/emermed-2013-203502. PMID 24554447. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7vk9j0g9. 
  3. ↑ Roland, D; Spurr, J; Cabrera, D (2017). "Preliminary Evidence for the Emergence of a Health Care Online Community of Practice: Using a Netnographic Framework for Twitter Hashtag Analytics". J Med Internet Res 19 (7): e252. doi:10.2196/jmir.7072. PMID 28710054. 
  4. ↑ Mallin, M; Schlein, S; Doctor, S; Stroud, S; Dawson, M; Fix, M (2014). "A Survey of the Current Utilisation of Asynchronous Education Among Emergency Medicine Residents in the United States". Acad Med 89 (4): 598–601. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000000170. PMID 24556776. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Burkholder, TW; Bellows, JW; King, RA (2018). "Free Open Access Medical Education (FOAM) in Emergency Medicine: The Global Distribution of Users in 2016". West J Emerg Med 19 (3): 600–605. doi:10.5811/westjem.2018.3.36825. PMID 29760862. 
  6. ↑ Chan, TM; Grock, A; Paddock, M; Kulasegaram, K; Yarris, LM; Lin, M (2016). "Examining Reliability and Validity of an Online Score (ALiEM AIR) for Rating Free Open Access Medical Education Resources". Ann Emerg Med 68 (6): 729–735. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.02.018. PMID 27033141. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "About Us". 28 January 2016. https://www.paediatricfoam.com/about/. 
  8. ↑ "EMCrit". https://emcrit.org/. 
  9. ↑ "Life in the Fast Lane". https://litfl.com/foam/. 
  10. ↑ "MedShr". https://medshr.net/. 
  11. ↑ "About Us". https://rebelem.com/about-us/. 
  12. ↑ "St. Emlyn's". https://stemlynsblog.org/. 
  13. ↑ "FOAMed Resources". 9 August 2016. https://theresusroom.com/foamed-resources/. 



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