The Science (Fiction) of FOAM

If you want to know how we practiced medicine 5 years ago, read a textbook. If you want to know how we practiced medicine 2 years ago, read a journal. If you want to know how we practiced medicine last year, go to a (good) conference. If you want to know how we practice medicine now and in the future, listen to the conversations in the hallway and use #FOAMed.

– Joseph Lex, MD

What if ideas in their purest form possessed mass and energy? A subatomic structure with a specific resonance that dictated each idea's physical properties. The power and influential reach determined not by the stature of those that spoke them, or the influences of the media agent that disperses them, but by the intrinsic nature of the ideas themselves. Ideas that when set to vibrate at the perfect frequency would propagate across worlds influencing all they touched.

What if a few insightful souls recognized the power of these ideas. Realizing they possess a mass and density of their own and as such have an inherent value. In an unequaled moment of altruism these visionaries decided that rather than imprison these ideas behind walls, restricting their access to those with the monetary means to afford their worth, they would spread them freely throughout the world. Allowing the intrinsic capabilities of each idea to determine the distance travelled. Harnessing technology they propagated these ideas across the globe.

These ideas and their newly defined substance then did something that for the past 200 years was thought to be impossible. They created new ideas…

Creating matter from nothing, they defied the Law of Conservation of Mass. Ideas begot ideas and a movement was born. It wasn't until June 2012 in a pub in Dublin, Ireland over an appropriately inspirational pint of Guinness that FOAM was officially given its name, but it has been alive long before this. Long before Osler first opened the halls of McGill University for all to learn, before Hippocrates and his students published their Corpus, before even our ancient ancestors painted on the walls of caves on the Island of Sulawesi FOAM was there.

Each year for one week a physical manifestation of the FOAM movement is held. Though the geographic location fluctuates from year to year, the concept remains unchanged. It is a rallying point for all the ideas that have been released into the world. A beacon for those who champion these ideas. The organic amalgamation of the free open market of social media and the like-minded brilliance of practitioners who understand that above all, the sharing of knowledge is key. It is a celebration of FOAM, a movement that creates students, teachers, mentors, and most importantly friends. It is SMACC 2015.

Registration Opens November 5th/6th