After completion of the Basic Antimicrobial Stewardship Training Program the participant should be able to:
- Describe the basic classification/nomenclature system(s) of microorganisms
- List and compare common methods for isolation, identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of microorganisms
- State the basic mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance
- List those pathogenic microorganisms that currently present major treatment challenges due to antimicrobial resistance
- Describe strategies to identify problematic pathogens in a given institution and propose actions to address those challenges to patient care
- List guidelines for assembly of institutional antibiograms and describe potential pitfalls in interpretation of these reports
- Describe and list procedures utilizing antibiogram information to identify and track resistance problems, make appropriate antimicrobial formulary decisions, and to prepare optimal clinical pathways at a given institution
- List and compare methods for prospectively measuring antimicrobial use in an organized healthcare setting
- List those individuals/disciplines that should be included/involved in an antimicrobial stewardship program and explain the rationale for their inclusion
- Discuss basic infection control processes and explain their inter-relationship with antimicrobial stewardship programs
- Describe basic stewardship philosophies and processes and compare and contrast based upon advantages and disadvantages
- Prepare and defend a proposal that cost-justifies the funding of a stewardship program/team
- Describe methods to objectively measure the impact of a stewardship program on both patient outcomes and health care costs
- Provide a plan for ongoing cost justification of a stewardship program
- Document a stewardship intervention and assess/evaluate effect
- Present in-service education regarding purposes and methods of a stewardship program to other health care providers who are participants/stakeholders in a health care organization
After completion of the Advanced Antimicrobial Stewardship Training Program the participant should be able to:
- Understand and apply advanced pharmacodynamic principles to patients to optimize anti-infective therapy and patient outcomes
- Apply both epidemiologic and infection control and susceptibility surveillance methods to assist in the analysis and interpretation of data reflecting anti-infective use, stewardship programs/interventions, and antimicrobial resistance
- Prepare a plan to measure both patient outcome and economic consequences of stewardship programs/initiatives at the institutional level
- Describe and compare the advantages and disadvantages of electronic data capture systems used in conjunction with antimicrobial stewardship activities
- Propose methods for assessing quality improvement through local and national benchmarking techniques
- Prepare and implement an ongoing plan to successfully cost-justify new and established stewardship programs
- Describe different types of rapid molecular tests for S. aureus bloodstream infections and discuss the role of antimicrobial stewardship programs
- Describe and defend how clinical pathways and other system-based approaches help influence appropriate antibiotic selection and use
