As the Free Open Access Meducation (FOAM; #FOAMed) movement has continued to flourish over the past few years, Twitter has become a vital method for disseminating/discussing educational and clinical content. We thought it would be interesting to see who is being ‘followed’ on Twitter in the FOAM world. Certainly, the metric of Twitter followers does not necessarily correlate with quality. And, it misses newcomers to the FOAM scene and those with a more focused area of expertise/interest. We are more interested in understanding the landscape such as who is involved, geographic locations, areas of expertise, and association with blogs/podcasts.
Our search strategy was simple:
- Twitter was searched for all users with #FOAMed, #FOAMcc, #FOAMtox, #FOAMped, #FOAMems, #FOAM4GP, and/or #FOAM in his/her Twitter profile. *
- This was cross-referenced with Dr. Mike Cadogan’s (@sandnsurf) FOAMed Twitter list (1,074 members as of May 8, 2015).
Most Followed #FOAMed Twitter Users **
| Rank | Twitter Name | Twitter Handle | Location *** | Followers | Joined Twitter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Weingart | @EMCrit | Stony Brook, NY | 17,994 | Apr 2009 |
| 2 | Mike Cadogan | @Sandnsurf | Perth, Western Australia | 16,519 | Oct 2008 |
| 3 | Radiology Signs | @RadiologySigns | 14,724 | May 2012 | |
| 4 | LearnTheHeart.com | @LearnTheHeart | 14,341 | Feb 2013 | |
| 5 | EMS 12-Lead | @EMS12Lead | Hilton Head Island, SC | 11,581 | Mar 2010 |
| 6 | Chris Nickson | @PrecordialThump | Melbourne, Australia | 9,919 | Nov 2008 |
| 7 | Michelle Lin | @M_Lin | San Francisco, USA | 9,917 | Apr 2009 |
| 8 | FOAM Highlights | @FOAM_Highlights | Philadelphia, PA | 9,909 | Dec 2012 |
| 9 | Matt | @TheMattMak | London via Liverpool | 9,080 | Mar 2011 |
| 10 | Haney Mallemat | @CriticalCareNow | Baltimore, USA | 8,780 | Nov 2010 |
| 11 | Minh Le Cong | @ketaminh | 8,152 | Nov 2011 | |
| 12 | Cliff Reid | @CliffReid | Sydney | 8,038 | Mar 2009 |
| 13 | The SMACC Team | @SMACCTeam | Global | 7,181 | May 2013 |
| 14 | Rob Rogers | @EM_Educator | Lexington, Kentucky | 6,833 | Jun 2009 |
| 15 | Seth Trueger | @MDaware | Chicago | 6,786 | Jun 2011 |
| 16 | Critical Care Guys | @critcareguys | 6,734 | Feb 2011 | |
| 17 | Matt and Mike | @UltrasoundPod | Matt (KY) & Mike (UT) | 6,722 | Aug 2011 |
| 18 | IntensiveCareNetwork | @I_C_N | Sydney, Australia | 6,708 | Feb 2011 |
| 19 | Bryan D Hayes | @PharmERToxGuy | Baltimore, MD | 6,613 | Feb 2012 |
| 20 | Simon Carley | @EMManchester | Manchester | 6,591 | Feb 2009 |
| 21 | Rob Orman | @Emergencypdx | Snowmass, CO | 6,579 | Jun 2010 |
| 22 | ED Doc | @4hrEmergencyDoc | London | 6,345 | Oct 2010 |
| 23 | David Juurlink | @DavidJuurlink | Toronto | 5,922 | Jan 2012 |
| 24 | Steve Carroll | @EMBasic | San Antonio, TX | 5,575 | Dec 2011 |
| 25 | Anand Swaminathan | @EMSwami | NYC | 5,518 | Mar 2013 |
| 26 | Ryan Radecki | @EMLitofNote | Portland, OR | 5,131 | Jun 2011 |
| 27 | Joe Lex | @JoeLex5 | Philadelphia | 5,106 | Jul 2012 |
| 28 | Steven W. Smith | @SmithECGBlog | Minneapolis | 5,046 | Jun 2011 |
| 29 | Pam Nelmes | @Pam007Nelmes | Cornwall, UK | 4,631 | Sep 2010 |
| 30 | Michelle Johnston | @Eleytherius | Perth | 4,561 | Feb 2010 |
| 31 | Salim R. Rezaie | @srrezaie | San Antonio, TX | 4,393 | Feb 2013 |
| 32 | Andy Neill | @AndyNeill | Ireland | 4,364 | May 2011 |
| 33 | Graham Walker | @GrahamWalker | San Francisco, CA | 4,277 | Jul 2007 |
| 34 | Damian Roland | @Damian_Roland | Leicester, UK | 4,125 | Jan 2012 |
| 35 | Leon Gussow | @PoisonReview | Chicago, IL | 4,100 | Nov 2009 |
* Those without one of the FOAM hashtags in his/her Twitter profile are not included on this list, even if they produce excellent, free content (eg, Dr. Amal Mattu, @amalmattu).
** Information current as of May 8, 2015.
*** Locations were taken directly from Twitter profiles.
Observations
- Not too surprisingly, Dr. Scott Weingart of the EMCrit podcast leads the way, followed closely by the father of FOAMed, Dr. Mike Cadogan.
- This list, although only a small subset, seems to be a microcosm of the larger FOAM community.
- Worldwide representation from Australia to the UK to the USA.
- A variety of healthcare professional representation including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and EMS providers.
- Subspecialties within Emergency Medicine are also well represented including critical care, ECG, medical education, pharmacy, radiology, toxicology, and ultrasound.
- Importantly, only 3 women are featured on the list. We separately highlight the most followed #FOAMed women on Twitter.
Original July 14, 2014; Updated May 8, 2015
Bryan D. Hayes, PharmD, DABAT, FAACT, FASHP
Creator and Lead Editor, Capsules and EM Pharm Pearls Series
Attending Pharmacist, EM and Toxicology, MGH
Associate Professor of EM, Division of Medical Toxicology, Harvard Medical School
@PharmERToxGuy
