Sneak peek at ALiEMU: Free on-demand MOOC-like courses featuring the AIR Series

We are incredibly excited to announce the development of our newest project — ALiEMU. This top-secret project has been in the works for only 3 months, but has gained incredible momentum thanks to our all-star team, led by Dr. Chris Gaafary, who is our ALiEMU Chief of Design and Development… while he is not busy being an incoming EM chief resident at the University of Tennessee.

What is ALiEMU? The one-liner is: A free educational website which hosts free, on-demand e-courses, featuring the AIR series as the inaugural course.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2018-01-30T01:55:29-08:00May 26, 2015|Approved Instructional Resources (AIR series), Medical Education, Social Media & Tech|

I am Dr. Jeremy Faust, Co-Host of FOAMCast: How I Work Smarter

Dr. Jeremy Faust is a EM resident of many talents. His accomplishment are wide and varied from his many musical awards, to his work with grammy award winning vocal group Roomful of Teeth, to his column in ACEPnews, to his appearance on the Rachel Maddow Show speaking on the Ebola crisis, to his upcoming SMACC Chicago talk. He’s well known in the FOAM world and, for the last year, has been producing quality FOAM core content with Lauren Westafer on their podcast: FOAMCast. Dr. Jeremy Faust, following his own mantra, broke the mold, submitting his How I Work Smarter column despite not being officially nominated. Bold. Follow the link, yall, to discover Dr. Faust’s keys to success.

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By Benjamin Azan, MD|2019-04-16T23:29:39-07:00May 24, 2015|How I Work Smarter|

Design Challenge | An ALiEM Fellows Project

Design thinking is a concept that has recently taken the business world by storm, and more recently it has begun to creep into other fields, like education! At the core of it, the idea behind design thinking is to encourage designers to think about how they might solve problems that are experienced in the world – to think like engineers and architects, and focus on building solutions for end users. As a part of their fellowship, the 2014-15 ALiEM Fellows (Scott Kobner, BS and Sam Shaikh, DO) were each tasked with a different design job a few months ago. Click below to read more about their projects.

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By Teresa Chan, MD, MHPE|2026-06-16T16:07:32-07:00May 21, 2015|Medical Education, Social Media & Tech|

I am Dr. Rob Woods, Program Director, Medical Advisor, and STARS Transport Physician: How I Stay Healthy in EM

Dr. Rob Woods (@robwoodsuofs) is an individual that is truly committed to self-improvement and, in terms of wellness, he has exceeded. Currently, he is the program director of the University of Saskatchewan FRCPC EM Program, Medical Advisor to Ground Ambulance Services, and a STARS (HEMS) Transport Physician. How he excels in all these jobs and still has time to be known as a loving father and husband, amazing Program Director, and CrossFitter is incomprehensible! But it may have something to do with the fact that he has mastered time management. A great competitor on and off the field, Dr. Woods is never afraid to show his competitive side, which always makes things a bit more fun! Here’s how he manages to stay healthy in EM!

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By Zafrina Poonja, MD|2016-12-14T17:55:48-08:00May 16, 2015|Healthy in EM|

I am Dr. Ben Smith, Director of Emergency Ultrasound at University of Tennessee, Chattanooga: How I Work Smarter

If anyone in this series deserves the title of true “life hacker”, it’s Dr. Ben Smith (@UltrasoundJelly). A nuclear engineer turned emergency physician, you’ll see it is apparent he takes an engineer’s approach to productivity. In the clinical/education world, he is the Director of Emergency Ultrasound and the Associate Residency Director at University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. He’s a contributing member of FOAM via several websites, including ultrasoundoftheweek.com and 5minsono.com. Although we may not all have the braun to manage our own server infrastructure to host FOAM sites (which Dr. Smith does), he breaks down some simple tips you can use to automate your life and get started on the path to life hacking.

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By Benjamin Azan, MD|2026-06-16T16:07:24-07:00May 3, 2015|How I Work Smarter|

I am Dr. Melody Ong, Emergency Medicine Resident: How I Stay Healthy in EM

Dr. Melody Ong is an emergency medicine resident finishing up her first year of residency. I had the pleasure of meeting her while on residency interviews last year and we hit it off! As we share similar interests, personalities, and opinions on wellness, I knew she would have something to contribute to say about staying healthy. Whether it be traveling to the World Cup to indulge in her favorite sport, or trekking through Patagonia in Southern Argentina, Dr. Ong strives to practice wellness even on her days off. Within her PGY-1 year, she has been able to consistently make time for all the things that help her stay healthy. Here’s how she does it!

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By Zafrina Poonja, MD|2016-12-14T17:46:53-08:00May 2, 2015|Healthy in EM|

I am Dr. Sean Fox, Star Educator and Creator of Peds EM Morsels: How I Work Smarter

When I first contacted Dr. Sean Fox (@PedEMMorsels) regarding participating in the How I Work Smarter series he described his work style as “a bull in a china shop”, questioning if he was a worthy participant. This, in fact, makes him an ideal contributor as most of us can relate to the difficulties of achieving organizational zen. But Dr. Fox is also being humble. He is double boarded in Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics. In his young career, he has already received several teaching awards including the ACEP National Faculty Teaching Award. He’s also embraced teaching through FOAM via his great site pedemmorsels.com. Dr. Fox generously took some time out to share some great thoughts on how he tries to shoot the efficiency moon.
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By Benjamin Azan, MD|2019-04-16T23:32:01-07:00Apr 26, 2015|How I Work Smarter|