Free Open Access Meducation, or FOAM, utilises technology to give free access to the latest papers and opinions pertaining to hot topics in medicine. Want to ask Karim Brohi a question about trauma coagulopathy? Scott Weingart about emergency airway management? Or Minh Le Cong about Pre-Hospital Care? FOAM will allow you to do just that. You can also be more passive and just observe what people have to say about topical issues and pick up tips about which papers you have to read.
Read on to learn how to access this huge wealth of knowledge. If you're already a FOAM expert and can think of resources we've not mentioned e-mail derriFOAM@gmail.com with your suggestions and we can add them to this page. To further try and convince you, here is a great review of FOAM by one of the trusted EM bloggers in the States: R.E.B.E.L. EM. (click here for link to blog) Link to other free meducation delivered in the South West
Check out the new RCEM FOAMed Network resource.
Read the blog; follow the podcast... 
Twitter is probably the biggest player in FOAM. Click the button below to sign up for a Twitter account; if you wish you can sign up for more than one account so you can have one for personal stuff and one for FOAM. You can download numerous twitter apps for your smartphone, tablet and computer
Once you've signed up you will need to choose who to follow, you will only see updates from these people or people who direct a tweet to you. You can tailor the people you follow to your own interests but for starters we would recommend: @DerriFOAM, @Eleytherius, @Doc_Lev, @CEMdean, @EMcases, @RAGEpodacst, @karimbrohi, @emlyceum, @CEMpresident, @rfdsdoc, @M_Lin, @cliffreid, @EMcrit, @ EMManchester, @precordialthump & @amalmattu 
Sign up with your Google ID. This allows longer discussions of topics of interest. You can also join communities discussing things of interest. Again you can download an app for your smartphone or tablet. The team behind @DerriFOAM have their own community - search for DerriFOAM
Turn your car into a classroom with podcasts. Search via iTunes or the internet. Some of the best are EMCrit, The RAGE Podcast, SMART EM, PHARM, Emergency Medicine Cases and of course Derripod. Many have accompanying notes which you can access from the podcasts' websites.
If you like things written down try following blogs. These allow people to chart their ideas and opinions. You can use a blog aggregator such as Feedly so that all new stories can be accessed from one site. There are some hugely informative blogs out there; we recommend EMCrit, Academic Life in Emergency medicine, Amal Mattu's Emergency ECG video of the week, Dr. Smith's ECG blog, emDocs, Emergency Medicine Literature of note, Life In The Fast Lane, Resus M.E!, St Emlyn's & The Trauma Professional's Blog.
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@DerriFOAM Twitter Feed |
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