Free Open Access Medical education (FOAM) for the emergency physician

FOAM is ‘free open-access med(ical ed)ucation’. As such, FOAM is a dynamic collection of resources and tools for lifelong learning in medicine, as well as a community and an ethos. FOAM is continually evolving and growing rapidly, and from anarchic beginnings is increasingly attracting interest from practicing clinicians, trainees, educators, researchers and publishers alike. This article defines FOAM, details its development and considers its role, particularly in relationship to scientific journals, textbooks and medical education as a whole.