Policy Change: A Brief Primer for Emergency Physicians

Like it or not, many things that determine our daily satisfaction with our work are determined by policy. QI measures, the implementation of EMRs, the availability of cigarettes, the funding of GME positions, the strength of drunk driving laws, the availability of mental health care: these are all legislative decisions, with an intimate relationship to our work. Yet, only half of the practicing physicians in the U.S. report that they are actively involved in policy change/advocacy.

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By Megan L. Ranney, MD MPH|2016-11-14T10:54:38-08:00Dec 17, 2013|Public Health|

Child Whisperer Series: There’s an app for that!

I was playing bubbles with a 2 yr old when she wanted a turn. Even though I knew the outcome, she said “peeeze” so I said OK. As predicted, she immediately dumped the bubbles on the floor and started laughing. In the corner of the room I heard the quiet voice of her 10 year old brother say to me, “Excuse me, ma’am… you know there’s an app for that”.

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By Kristen Beckler, CTRS, CCLS|2026-06-16T16:04:33-07:00Dec 9, 2013|Pediatrics, Social Media & Tech|

Social Media Index: Controversy and Evolution

The Social Media Index was moved from BoringEM to ALiEM on the morning of Thursday, November 21st. The increased exposure for my previously obscure little prototype got it a lot of attention. By that afternoon Dr. Scott Weingart (@EMCrit) had weighed in with an audio response critical of the index and requested that EMCrit be removed. This set off a lively discussion on Twitter as a good chunk of the FOAM community got in on this important discussion.

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By Brent Thoma, MD MA|2017-06-23T18:27:25-07:00Nov 24, 2013|Social Media & Tech|

Lessons Learned from an Impromptu Twitter Consensus Conference on Blog Design

Written jointly by Teresa Chan & Tessa Davis (Guest writer from “DontForgetTheBubbles.com“)

A Brief Background: It seemed like an average Thursday at first. But then, on November 21 (November 22 to some in Australia) controversy struck our little online #FOAMed world. With the launch of the Social Media Index on the ALiEM website, something had existed for almost six months at BoringEM.org suddenly became a point of contention.

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By Teresa Chan, MD, MHPE|2016-11-16T09:38:02-08:00Nov 24, 2013|Social Media & Tech|

Social Media Index (SM-i) on ALiEM

The Social Media Index (SM-i) started with a pilot on BoringEM. The rationale for the experiment was that the health care professionals creating Free Open-Access Medical Education (FOAM) resources had no way to measure their impact in the way that scholars (h-index) and journals (Impact Factor) do. This made it difficult for them to quantify the impact of their work and for the consumers of FOAM to distinguish between reputable and unproven websites. While I am aware of the many imperfections of the index as it now stands, I believe the pilot demonstrated that there is enough value in the concept to justify further exploration.

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By Brent Thoma, MD MA|2017-03-05T14:18:36-08:00Nov 21, 2013|Social Media & Tech|

Peer Violence: A Public Health Perspective

Think back to your last shift. How many of you saw someone whose chief complaint was “assault”? What did you do for the patient? If you’re like most of us, you ruled out acute life-threatening injuries, sighed loudly (especially if the person had been in the ED before for other fight-related injuries), and dispo’ed. But do you ever wonder if you should do more? Or why?

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By Megan L. Ranney, MD MPH|2026-06-16T16:04:22-07:00Nov 7, 2013|Public Health|

Discussing Annals EM article: Social Media and Physician Learning

I was delighted to see the News and Perspectives piece in this month’s Annals of Emergency Medicine about “Social Media and Physician Learning” (free PDF). I had totally forgotten that Jan Greene, the author, had called to talk with me several months ago. In the piece, she discusses many of the issues with which I struggle:

Is peer review good or bad?
What is the role of blog and podcast sites in the future of medical education?
With the ease of how anyone can be “published” on blogs, how can one decide on the trustworthiness of open educational resources such as FOAM?
Can or should social media education practices be held up to the rigorous scientific standards of original research?

Here are some noteworthy quotes:

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-28T21:52:47-08:00Nov 5, 2013|Expert Peer Reviewed (Clinical), Medical Education, Social Media & Tech|