SMACC FOAM Q/A
One of the more experimental sessions at SMACC earlier this year was a free-form two hour session on FOAM that consisted of an ad hoc discussion involving some prominent creators of FOAM with the opportunity for audience interaction and questioning. Sometimes teetering on the verge of an AA-style meeting for FOAMaholics, the discussion will be of interest to anyone interested in online learning, especially that which is free and open access to everyone. Educational, entertaining and controversial — what more could you want?
The people on the sofas up on the SMACC stage were:
- Scott Weingart of EMCrit
- Joe Lex of Free Emergency Medicine Talks
- Simon Carley of StEmlyns
- Minh Le Cong of PHARM
- Oli Flower of ICN
- Mike Cadogan of LITFL
- and myself
We explored some key FOAM topics such as:
- The Evils of Social Media and the dangers of FOAM
- LEarning in and out of context
- FOAM is an adjunct, not a replacement for mentor-guided clinical experience
- Social media, information overload and keeping life in balance
- Information versus knowledge
- FOAM is more than free, it is open access and can be reused
- Engagement in FOAM – the tension between individuals and organisations
- Why is emergency medicine, even more so than intensive care, at the forefront of FOAM?
- Constraints on FOAM and medical social media in different parts of the world
- Does FOAM need to be peer reviewed?
- Copyright issues and fair use in FOAM
- Can blogs replace review articles?
- The role of FOAM in the developing world, and places where emergency medicine and critical care are developing
- What does social media mean for clinical research?
- How can we convert colleagues and students to FOAM?
- Getting academic and professional credit for creating FOAM
- Issues with patient confidentiality in FOAM and the use of clinical photographs
- FOAM, asynchronous learning and the flipped classroom
- FOAM versus Big Pharma
- FOAM and knowledge translation
- How does FOAM relate to the Colleges of various specialties?
- What does FOAM mean for medical students?
- FOAM as a means of contextual learning
Chris is an Intensivist and ECMO specialist at The Alfred ICU, where he is Deputy Director (Education). He is a Clinical Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University, the Lead for the Clinician Educator Incubator programme, and a CICM First Part Examiner.
He is an internationally recognised Clinician Educator with a passion for helping clinicians learn and for improving the clinical performance of individuals and collectives. He was one of the founders of the FOAM movement (Free Open-Access Medical education) has been recognised for his contributions to education with awards from ANZICS, ANZAHPE, and ACEM.
His one great achievement is being the father of three amazing children.
On Bluesky, he is @precordialthump.bsky.social and on the site that Elon has screwed up, he is @precordialthump.
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