LW: The reason this works is that people are actually attracted to things that they already find familiar. Our approach is to clue people in to what’s hot in FOAM and then highlight what the texts say or what the boards want you to know. That way when they go to open that intimidatingly large textbook, it already seems friendly and familiar because we’ve taken a bite out of it already. Nice plug for our recent episode where we covered ENT emergencies after discussing the hotly debated recently published FELLOW trial that assessed the role of apneic oxygenation during rapid sequence intubation.

JF: Definitely a topic that got tons of attention in the FOAM world. Ultimately, though, I agree. We use FOAM, and you and I specifically create our brand of FOAM in an attempt to try to get ourselves—and, of course, our listeners—to do more work and studying, not less. That’s probably our main motivation for even doing the show. We’re not experts on very much, but I often refer to us as “public learners.”

LW: I thought you mainly do the show as a platform for promoting your collection of made-up words. Rosenalli and SIRSycardia [heart rate between 90–99 bpm], come to mind.

JF: That’s merely a fringe benefit.

LW: In all seriousness though, our motto is that people should not “FOAM it alone.” Which is another way of saying: “Here’s what’s out there now. Here’s what’s hot. Now go and check it out for yourself and draw your own conclusions. Dig in to it.”

JF: Because that’s what all the “cool” kids are doing.

Next time, we’ll delve into some recent episodes of FOAMcast. In the meantime, feel free to catch up on back episodes on iTunes or at FOAMcast. See y’all online.

Follow FOAMcast @FOAMpodcast.

Dr. Faust is a senior emergency-medicine resident at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. He tweets about #FOAMed and classical music @jeremyfaust.

Dr. Westafer is chief resident at the Baystate Medical Center at Tufts University in Springfield, Massachusetts. Follow her @LWestafer.