Foreword

I was the Medical Director at Phoenix Perinatal Associates when Dr. Michael Foley finished his fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) at The Ohio State University. His Chairman, Dr. Steven Gabbe, suggested he contact us at Phoenix Perinatal due to his interest in an academic, private practice. After interviewing Mike, all the partners agreed he would be the perfect person to take over our new OB Critical Care Program. He has subsequently gone on to create a world class program that has helped many critical care obstetrical patients throughout the years.

Out of this grew Mike’s desire to disseminate his knowledge to others who care for critical obstetrical patients. He published the first edition of The Critical Care Manual in 1997. The fact that this is the fifth edition is a clear endorsement for the value and impact of this manual. The addition of Dr. Thomas Strong and Dr. Thomas Garite as coeditors has added tremendous value to recent editions. There are countless MFM, OB-Gyns, Family Practitioners, Nurse Midwives, residents, students, and nurses who have used this manual to help them care for their patients. This manual is used at the point of care every day by practitioners because it provides concise, practical advice regarding critical care scenarios. It is guided by decades of practice and teaching at the bedside.

Additionally, Dr. Foley has developed the best Critical Care Simulation Course in the world. It is a simulation course with a flipped classroom style where lectures are sent to participants and reviewed prior to the course allowing session time at the meeting to be spent in discussion of real critical care cases. The course includes hand-on simulation at the Banner Simulation Center. Simulation training includes CPR, arrhythmia management, perimortem cesarean, airway management, intraosseous infusion, and postpartum hemorrhage. This training embeds the learning more deeply than lectures alone.

These two examples showcase why Dr. Foley is one of the pioneers in developing materials and teaching critical care in obstetrics.

It has been an honor to follow what Mike has accomplished since that day we first met at Phoenix Perinatal Associates. Mike’s philosophy in life, stemming from a life-long study of the martial arts, permeates all of what he has done in medicine. His dedication to critical care obstetrics has lead all of us to take better care of our patients, leading to better outcomes for mothers and babies.