Be sure to check out our previous posts on: BRONCHIOLITIS, EPIGLOTTITIS, PNEUMONIA, and CROUP

The Problem:

Free open access medical education (aka FOAM) is great in that it allows for asynchronous, focused learning. But there are some challenges when it comes to the utilization of FOAM:

– Decentralization of FOAM resources

– Concerns about the quality of information being presented

The Solution:

The Systematic Online Academic Resource, or SOAR, review was created in an effort to address some of these limitations. The SOAR review format, adapted from the traditional systematic review methodology, aims to “systematically identify online resources by topic…[and] assess the quality of these resources with a validated tool, and collate links.” The first several SOAR reviews were done on topics related to general emergency medicine: Renal and Genitourinary; Endocrine, Metabolic, and Nutritional Disorders; and Sickle Cell Disorders.

We want to help you learn!

We published the first pediatric SOAR review in AEM Education and Training on the topic of respiratory infectious disease. After searching 177 keywords using FOAMSearch, the top 50 FOAM websites on the (now defunct) Social Media Index, and seven additional PEM-focused blogs, we reviewed and quality assessed 441 blog posts on relevant topics. For each blog, we extracted information such as author names and date of publication. Most importantly, we scored each post using a seven question scoring tool called the rMETRIQ tool. The rMETRIQ tool is a quality evaluation tool for online educational resources. Prior SOAR reviews have established an rMETRIQ high-quality cutoff score of greater than or equal to 16. In this new pediatric SOAR review, we found that only 36 of the 441 blog posts reached this high-quality threshold score.

How can I use these findings?

Our SOAR review provides readers with a curated list of high-quality blog posts on topics of respiratory infectious disease. The table below contains information for high-quality blog posts on assorted respiratory topics – all of the topics that haven’t been covered in our previous posts, including author names, dates of publication, and links for easy access. The posts are organized by rMETRIQ score. Happy learning!

High-Quality Blog Posts on: ASSORTED RESPIRATORY TOPICS

Topic First Author Name of Blog Post Date of Publication Link rMETRIQ Score
Strep pharyngitis Long, Brit

emDOCs Podcast – Episode 27: An Understated Myth? Strep Throat & Rheumatic Fever

 4/27/21 Click to Open 19
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease Rasuli, Bahman

Enterovirus 71

 1/24/14 Click to Open 19
Peritonsillar abscess Sumpter, Ryan EM@3AM: Peritonsillar Abscess 3/7/20 Click to Open 18
Influenza Barr, Laurel

Influenza Mimics: Pearls & Pitfalls

 2/9/16 Click to Open 18
Tracheitis Fox, Sean Tracheitis in Children: a 2018 Update 11/30/18 Click to Open 18
Tuberculosis Gaillard, Frank Ghon lesion 2/19/10 Click to Open 18
COVID-19 Reyes, Miguel

Data from Israel on the BNT162b2 (Pfizer) mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine

 3/30/21 Click to Open 18
Uvulitis Fox, Sean

Uvulitis—Pediatric EM Morsels

 4/12/19 Click to Open 17
Legionella infection Fox, Sean

Legionellosis in Children

 4/6/18 Click to Open 17
Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Gaines, C. Blair

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-
C) versus Kawasaki Disease

 8/31/20 Click to Open 17
Lemierre’s syndrome

Irankunda, Edmond

More than a Sore Throat: Lemierre’s Syndrome

 6/5/19 Click to Open 16
Antibiotics Hao, Rosy Antibiotics for Pediatrics Infections and Amoxicillin Dosing 9/29/20 Click to Open 16
Pertussis Long, Brit

Pertussis: Not Your Typical URI

 3/15/17 Click to Open 16
Sinusitis

Gaillard, Frank

 Fungal sinusitis 4/9/10 Click to Open 16
Hand-foot-and-mouth disease Lewis, Claire

Coxsackie virus

 5/31/22 Click to Open 16
Shortness of breath Stime, Katrina

PEM Pearls: Chest Radiographs for Shortness of Breath

 3/27/20 Click to Open 16
Peritonsillar abscess Bridwell, Rachel

emDOCs Podcast: Episode 34 – Peritonsillar Abscess

 8/3/21 Click to Open 16
Enterovirus Brown, Jason

The Wheeze That Wasn’t – An Observation on Enterovirus D-68

 11/6/14 Click to Open 16
Otitis media Milne, Ken

SGEM#132: ONE BALLOON FOR OTITIS MEDIA WITH EFFUSION

 10/15/15 Click to Open 16
Sore throat Parker, Casey

On Sick Kids, Sore Throats, Swabs and Such

 9/16/14 Click to Open 16
COVID-19 Nanjayya, Vinodh

Report of the WHO-CHINA Joint Mission on
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) | INTENSIVE Review

 4/7/20 Click to Open 16