Lin Michelle, Phipps Mina, Yilmaz Yusuf, Nash Christopher J, Gisondi Michael A, Chan Teresa M
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States.
JMIR Med Educ. 2022 Oct 28;8(4):e39946. doi: 10.2196/39946.
Free open-access meducation (FOAM) refers to open-access, web-based learning resources in medicine. It includes all formats of digital products, including blogs and podcasts. The number of FOAM blog and podcast sites in emergency medicine and critical care increased dramatically from 2002 to 2013, and physicians began to rely on the availability of these resources. The current landscape of these FOAM sites is unknown.
This study aims to (1) estimate the current number of active, open-access blogs and podcasts in emergency medicine and critical care and (2) describe observed and anticipated trends in the FOAM movement using the Theory of Disruptive Innovation by Christensen as a theoretical framework.
The authors used multiple resources and sampling strategies to identify active, open-access blogs and podcasts between April 25, 2022, and May 8, 2022, and classified these websites as blogs, podcasts, or blogs+podcasts. For each category, they reported the following outcome measures using descriptive statistics: age, funding, affiliations, and team composition. Based on these findings, the authors projected trends in the number of active sites using a positivist paradigm and the Theory of Disruptive Innovation as a theoretical framework.
The authors identified 109 emergency medicine and critical care websites, which comprised 45.9% (n=50) blogs, 22.9% (n=25) podcasts, and 31.2% (n=34) blogs+podcasts. Ages ranged from 0 to 18 years; 27.5% (n=30) sold products, 18.3% (n=20) used advertisements, 44.0% (n=48) had institutional funding, and 27.5% (n=30) had no affiliation or external funding sources. Team sizes ranged from 1 (n=26, 23.9%) to ≥5 (n=60, 55%) individuals.
There was a sharp decline in the number of emergency medicine and critical care blogs and podcasts in the last decade, dropping 40.4% since 2013. The initial growth of FOAM and its subsequent downturn align with principles in the Theory of Disruptive Innovation by Christensen. These findings have important implications for the field of medical education.
免费开放获取医学教育（FOAM）指的是医学领域基于网络的开放获取学习资源。它包括所有格式的数字产品，如博客和播客。从2002年到2013年，急诊医学和重症监护领域的FOAM博客和播客网站数量急剧增加，医生们开始依赖这些资源的可得性。目前这些FOAM网站的情况尚不清楚。
本研究旨在（1）估计急诊医学和重症监护领域活跃的、开放获取的博客和播客的当前数量，以及（2）以克里斯坦森的颠覆性创新理论为理论框架，描述FOAM运动中观察到的和预期的趋势。
作者使用多种资源和抽样策略，在2022年4月25日至2022年5月8日期间识别活跃的、开放获取的博客和播客，并将这些网站分类为博客、播客或博客+播客。对于每个类别，他们使用描述性统计报告以下结果指标：网站成立时长、资金来源、所属机构和团队组成。基于这些发现，作者以实证主义范式和颠覆性创新理论为理论框架，预测活跃网站数量的趋势。
作者识别出109个急诊医学和重症监护领域的网站，其中包括45.9%（n=50）的博客、22.9%（n=25）的播客以及31.2%（n=34）的博客+播客。网站成立时长从0年到18年不等；27.5%（n=30）销售产品，18.3%（n=20）使用广告，44.0%（n=48）有机构资金支持，27.5%（n=30）没有所属机构或外部资金来源。团队规模从1人（n=26，23.9%）到≥5人（n=60，55%）不等。
在过去十年中，急诊医学和重症监护领域的博客和播客数量急剧下降，自2013年以来下降了40.4%。FOAM的最初增长及其随后的低迷与克里斯坦森的颠覆性创新理论原则相符。这些发现对医学教育领域具有重要意义。
