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The FOAM movement has transformed how emergency and internal medicine clinicians learn, turning the traditional journal club and conference model on its head. What began as scattered blog posts and shared clinical pearls has grown into a vibrant, interconnected ecosystem of educators, practitioners, and learners who freely exchange ideas across the internet. For David Marcus, whose career has spanned residency training, attendinghood, and administrative leadership, FOAM represents more than a collection of resources—it is a living, breathing community that keeps clinical practice fresh and intellectually honest. The best FOAM content challenges assumptions, documents real-world complications, and invites conversation in ways that static textbooks simply cannot match.
The emergency department and the internal medicine ward share a common thread: both demand rapid, thoughtful decision-making under pressure. Resources gathered on this page reflect that intersection, from procedural sedation guidance to the management of excited delirium and the nuanced complications of immunotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors. Each piece of content is chosen not for its popularity but for its practical utility at the bedside. When a patient presents with an unusual complication of a cancer therapy, or when a resuscitation scenario takes an unexpected turn, the curated materials here offer a starting point for the kind of structured thinking that separates good clinicians from great ones.
The culture of comment sections and open discussion is central to the FOAM ethos. Unlike the passive consumption of a printed article, the online format invites pushback, clarification, and the sharing of alternative approaches. Over the years, numerous drafts have been written, revised, and published—sometimes after weeks of hesitation, sometimes in a rush of inspiration. The willingness to be wrong publicly, to ask for forgiveness from fellow FOAMers when posting lags, and to engage constructively with criticism is what keeps this community honest and evolving. It is a practice in intellectual humility as much as it is in medical education.
Beyond the clinical content, there is a deeply personal dimension to this work. The journey through attendinghood, the expansion into administrative roles, and the balancing act of family life with a demanding practice all shape what gets written and shared. There are periods when the blog stagnates, when drafts wait unfinished, and when the flow of ideas slows to a trickle. Yet the intention to write regularly persists, fueled by the belief that sharing one's own clinical missteps and lessons learned can spare another clinician the same painful experience. This honesty about the process—not just the polished final product—is what makes the resources here resonate with readers.
For those new to FOAM or skeptical of its value, the feeds and aggregators listed on this page offer an accessible entry point. Rather than chasing individual blogs, a single feed can surface the best of the community's output, including live conference listings and emerging topics. The visual side of medical education—the memes, the humor, the shared inside jokes—serves a serious purpose too: it builds camaraderie and makes difficult material memorable. In a field where burnout is common and time is scarce, the ability to learn efficiently while feeling connected to a larger community of clinicians is not a luxury. It is a necessity.
FOAM Resources
Free Open Access Medical education — FOAM — is a global movement that makes high-quality clinical teaching freely available online. This page gathers key FOAM resources, feeds, and community links curated by David A. Marcus, MD.
Core FOAM Links
- Life in the Fast Lane (LITFL) — A cornerstone of the FOAM world, covering emergency medicine, critical care, and medical education.
- FOAM Feeds — An aggregator pulling together posts from across the FOAM blogosphere, including live conference listings.
- FOAMemes — A lighter side of medical education: visual memes and humor shared within the FOAM community.
For Residents & Students
FOAM resources complement bedside teaching and formal curricula. They are especially useful for point-of-care review, conference preparation, and exploring subspecialty topics in emergency medicine and internal medicine.
Stay Connected
Follow @emimdoc on Twitter for shared articles, conference highlights, and FOAM commentary. The Feed page aggregates curated medical news and external blog content.