FOAM, which stands for “Free Open-Access Medical Education”, is a dynamic collection of online resources and tools for lifelong learning in medicine, integrated as a community with the potential to reach every corner of the planet. The main uses of FOAM are to cut the knowledge translation window and to serve as an adjunct to traditional learning by providing accessible and reusable resources.
Currently, the FOAM concept, often termed #FOAMed, is being used heavily among Emergency Medicine (EM) communities in English-speaking countries. At the International Student Association for Emergency Medicine (ISAEM), we see #FOAMed as a tool to disseminate knowledge and awareness about Emergency Medicine among medical students in countries where the specialty is new, lacking, or not yet established.
FOAM is the concept, #FOAMed is the community
The #FOAMed community spontaneously emerged from the collection of constantly evolving, collaborative and interactive open access medical education resources being distributed on the web. FOAM is independent of platform or media — it includes blogs, podcasts, tweets, Google hangouts, online videos, text documents, photographs, facebook groups, and a whole lot more.
There is a huge demand for this knowledge and specialty by international students. However, the specialty is not recognized in several countries and the vast majority of #FOAMed resources are produced in English, a language that many students cannot understand. Hence, we plan to translate this material into several languages, beginning with French, Portuguese, and Spanish, in order to increase student access to this incredible resource and promote the field of Emergency Medicine around the world. With that in mind, we are running the ISAEM #FOAMed Project!
Check out ISAEM’s FOAM Blogs:
Are you interested in collaborate with us in this initiative?
Do you want to know more about FOAM? Take a look at this Life in The Fast Lane post about it. There is no one better to explain FOAM than these guys. Then, check out some awesome resources at:
