Virtual FoEM

WEBSITE CONTENT

In light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, our team has created new guidelines to help sites implement our Foundations of Emergency Medicine (FoEM) course content in the virtual setting.  All of our content is FREE and OPEN-ACCESS. Specific course content is still found through our Learner Resources and Leadership Resources menus.

VIRTUAL PLATFORMS

If your program is practicing social distancing and canceling in-person conference, you are likely transitioning to virtual platforms (i.e. Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts) to host video conferences. Whichever service your institution prefers, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with tutorials for planning and managing meetings, including additional functions such as chats, screen sharing and breakout meetings.  Make sure your small group instructors know what to expect and are familiar with screen sharing to present case images to learners.

NEW PROGRAMS

If you are not currently a FoEM member site, no worries!  All of our content is free and you can quickly gain access to password-protected instructional resources within our Leadership menu.  All you have to do is register and complete a program roster (top right hand corner of our website).  To familiarize yourself with our courses and strategic implementation, we recommend you review our Foundations Courses summary and implementation guides on our Quicklinks for Leaders page.  If you have issues with access please contact admin@foundationsem.com.

STRATEGIC IMPLEMENTATION IN THE VIRTUAL SPACE

In most cases, the educational strategies used in our courses involve active learning, discussion, and work in small groups.  Depending on your capabilities and instructor bandwidth, two broad adaptive strategies are worth considering:

  • Facilitated Virtual Small Groups
    • Organize your list of learners into small groups (learning teams) 
      • 3-6 per group is ideal to allow equal engagement
      • You may prefer same level (i.e. all PGY1s) or mixed level (i.e. PGY1+2) groups depending on the content you choose
      • Create a group identifier ( i.e. Team 1)
      • Maintain these groups for future virtual learning sessions
    • Assign at least one small group instructor (SGI) to facilitate each group
      • Consider engaging senior residents as SGIs with faculty oversight
      • Instructors may change from hour to hour or week to week depending on availability
    • Facilitating the virtual experience
      • Plan separate virtual meeting space (i.e. breakout space within a single virtual meeting) for each learning team
      • Provide instructor resources (i.e. cases, teaching points) and strategy to your SGIs in advance of the teaching session (see FoEM implementation resources)
      • SGIs should identify learners who are present at the meeting and assign specific roles/expectations for involvement prior to each session
      • Details about strategy for specific courses noted below
  • Facilitated Virtual Large Group
    • Assign at least one faculty instructor to facilitate each virtual meeting
      • Should have access to full roster of learner names and PGY levels
      • Instructors may change from hour to hour or week to week depending on availability
    • Facilitating the virtual experience
      • Plan virtual meeting space for large group learning
      • Provide instructor resources (i.e. cases, teaching points) and strategy to your instructor in advance of the teaching session (see FoEM implementation resources)
      • Instructor or facilitator should identify learners who are present and assign specific roles/expectations for involvement prior to each session
        • With large group setting, fewer people will have active roles but over time those filling active roles can change
      • Details about strategy for specific courses noted below

 

STRATEGIC IMPLEMENTATION BY COURSE

 

  • Foundations I & II
    • Use screen sharing option to show case stimuli (labs, XR, etc) during virtual meeting
    • Small Group Approach (recommended)
      • Recruit a Small Group Instructor (faculty or senior resident) for each case (3 for F1, 2 for F2) and share case materials with your SGIs
      • At the start of the meeting, create breakout rooms (3 for F1, 2 for F2) within your virtual meeting and divide learners evenly into these rooms.
      • Assign a small group instructor to each room to start the first case; when time is up (15min for F1, 20min for F2), move each instructor to a new breakout group to present the same case
      • As facilitator, you must keep track of time, send out updates by chat or broadcast with time warnings (5min, 1min) and manage learners and SGI room assignments.
    • Large Group Approach
      • Faculty or senior residents will present cases to large group
      • If single instructor, they should prepare and present all cases for the unit
      • If multiple instructors, they may prepare and present a single case
      • Large group of learners should be divided up so active involvement in a case rotates to engage different learners
        • For Case 1, Learner X manages initial stabilization, Learner Y manages H&P, Learner Z manages management/dispo
        • Discussion and teaching points for case can engage all learners
        • For other cases, different learners fill roles XYZ
    • Paired Asynchronous Resources (1hr per unit)
      • Learning Pathway (independent study) assignments pair with each unit of F1 and F2 and can be found organized by system on the main page of our website.
      • If your program has access to Rosh Review, there are also paired assessments for each unit.  Of note, Rosh offers a 30 day free trial for any program who is not a subscriber.

 

  • Foundations III
    • Most sessions can easily be used for all learner levels, though critical care cases may best be reserved for senior residents
    • Large Group Approach
      • If single faculty instructor, can guide learners through case and discussion points in the teaching guide
      • If two faculty instructors, can have a facilitator who guides group through case, questions and a content expert at your site who discusses ideal management and discussion points
      • Best to engage learners specifically with questions or have faculty moderate using the chat function
    • Asynchronous Approach (1hr per session)
      • All F3 sessions are open to learners to download and they may independently review cases, discussion/teaching points, and paired FOAMed resources
      • For III credit, consider using paired F3 Rosh assessments (by unit, if available) or written assignment (e.g. record 5 key learning points and 2 questions related to the session)

 

  • ECG I & II
    • ECG Workshops review 1 unit including 4 grouped ECG challenges per 45-60 min period
    • Distribute unit summary and challenge ECGs in advance of the meeting for asynchronous review
    • Large Group Approach
      • Briefly review the unit summary with the large group
      • Present challenge ECGs one at a time using the screen share function
      • Prompt specific learners or learning teams to share detailed interpretation of the ECG and answer question prompts provided in the challenge ECG packet
      • Review correct interpretation and answers to questions for each ECG before moving on to the next one
      • Allow final time for questions/discussion
    • Small Group Approach
      • Follow steps above with divided virtual spaces for learning teams
    • Asynchronous Approach (1hr per unit workshop)
      • Send learners unit summary and challenge ECGs
      • Ask them to return a summary of their interpretation of each ECG and question answers
      • Send learners unit answer packet

 

  • Imaging I
    • All units in the Imaging Course include 30 minutes of lecture style teaching slides and 30 minutes of small group interactive cases
    • These may be presented in a virtual meeting using screen sharing and moderated chat/discussion groups
    • Asynchronous Approach (1 hr per unit)
      • Presentation files can be sent to learners directly for independent review
      • Learners can submit their preliminary answers to challenge cases, summarized learning points or lingering questions

 

  • Frameworks
    • Ideal for junior learners (medical students, PGY1s), these summarize a systematic approach for complex chief complaints (30min each)
    • Large Group Approach
      • Distribute Framework in advance of the session
      • A faculty member or senior resident can discuss the strategy of the Framework, using the instructor’s guide for detailed discussion as needed
      • Allow time for learner questions or moderated chat discussion
    • Small Group Approach
      • Follow steps above with divided virtual spaces for learning teams
    • Asynchronous Approach (30min per Framework)
      • All Frameworks and Guides are available through the Learner Resources menu
      • They may independently review frameworks and guides
      • Consider asking learners to submit summarized learning points or lingering questions