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Talking SMACC
Traditionally education has been delivered in a classroom setting by teacher and textbook. But what if you could listen to a global subject matter expert streaming a master class directly into your headphones, or you could establish a study buddy 10 time zones away? How about posing a clinical problem or question and getting answers and best practices from clinicians from around the world?
This is the concept behind the Free Open-Access Meducation movement, better known as #FOAMed. Conceived in a pub in Dublin, Ireland (where else?), the idea quickly gained traction among physicians, residents and students, who started to share problems, questions, solutions and suggestions using the #FOAMed hashtag for easy searching on social media. The movement is made up of blog posts, podcasts and videos, with Facebook groups and Twitter feeds spreading the message.
The viral success of FOAM led to the first SMACC (Social Media and Critical Care) conference held in Australia, which attracted 600 participants in 2013 and doubled to 1,200 in 2014. The 2015 event, which was held in Chicago in June 2015 (see www.smacc.net.au), attracted more than 2,000 attendees. In keeping with its cloud-based origins, SMACC is not a traditional conference. The sharp, smart delivery follows a “Med TED” style of presentation to enthuse attendees in house and online.
In his Word on the Street podcast, EMS World editorial advisory board member Rob Lawrence talks with Ashley Voss Liebig, who serves on the U.S.-based organizing committee of SMACC US, and to a previous SMACC attendee, Queensland Ambulance Service officer Mick Lazell. Find out how #FOAMed is transforming how we learn about critical care at EMSWorld.com/12053225.
FOAM Resources
