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:

• List and apply advances in antimicrobial stewardship at the participant’s home institution/health system
• Describe the latest changes in antimicrobial resistance of clinical relevance to therapeutics both nationally and internationally
• Understand and apply advances in antimicrobial therapeutics, including such things as new agents, new vaccines and pharmacodynamics principles to patient care at the patient and system levels
• Describe changes in the regulatory landscape relevant to the management of patients with infectious diseases and their implications for antimicrobial stewardship programs.
• Apply both epidemiologic and infection control and susceptibility surveillance methods, including the use of electronic data capture software, 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 impact of stewardship programs/initiatives at the institutional level
• Propose methods for assessing quality improvement through local national and international benchmarking techniques
• Prepare and implement an ongoing plan to successfully cost-justify new and established stewardship programs
• Describe advances in diagnostic techniques (e.g., rapid molecular tests, biomarkers) and propose methods to incorporate their use/application to stewardship initiatives
• Describe and defend how clinical pathways and other system-based approaches help influence appropriate antibiotic selection and use
• Describe various methods to collaborate locally, regionally, nationally and internationally in advancing the science and practice of antimicrobial stewardship