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Antimicrobial Stewardship: Managing Antibiotic Resistance

Understand antibiotic resistance, and how antimicrobial stewardship can slow down or reduce it, with this free online course

70,178 enrolled on this course

Cells seen under a microscope

Antimicrobial Stewardship: Managing Antibiotic Resistance

70,178 enrolled on this course

  • 6 weeks

  • 3 hours per week

  • Accreditation available

  • Digital certificate when eligible

  • Intermediate level

Find out more about how to join this course

Understand antimicrobial stewardship

Designed for healthcare professionals, this six-week course will inform you about – and empower you to provide – safe, high-quality antibiotic use. You’ll interact with colleagues globally, to understand what antibiotic resistance means – and why the World Economic Forum has placed it alongside terrorism and climate change on its global risk register. You can also join the course in Español, 中文, Pусский, or Portuguesa.

Acknowledgements

Skip to 0 minutes and 10 seconds No more lies! No more lies! We’re outside the Dundee Hospital where yesterday a second patient just died from a deadly, resistant infection. The World Health Organisation has warned that without urgent action, we’re heading for an era in which common infections– which have been treatable with antibiotics for decades– can kill once more. We have put enhanced infection control and other measures. Imagine that by 2050, there will be an estimated 10 million deaths from antibiotic resistant bacteria– more than all the deaths from cancer or road traffic accidents. He had a chest infection and was given lots of different antibiotics from the GP. Usually, patients start to recover well one or two days after prostate surgery. Unfortunately, Mr. Jenkins did remain unwell.

Skip to 1 minute and 11 seconds Antimicrobial stewardship is fast growing field that aims to address this issue by managing our use of antibiotics so as to slow down or reduce the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance. It’s turned out that this patient has managed to acquire a much more resistant bacterial infection than we would normally see. This free, online course will help you understand what antimicrobial stewardship is and how you can apply it to the every day setting. I just thought you’d be immune and OK by the time you got into hospital. Join with other members of your health care team and work together on this interactive, global course delivered by the University of Dundee in partnership with The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and FutureLearn. Register now.

Skip to 2 minutes and 12 seconds Get involved, and involve your team. Welcome.

What topics will you cover?

  • Antibiotic Resistance and its global impact
  • The relationship between antibiotic resistance and prescribing
  • What antimicrobial stewardship is and how it can be implemented in a hospital setting
  • Why measurement is important in stewardship: how it can improve antibiotic prescribing
  • How novel diagnostics can help in clinical decision making for antibiotic prescribing
  • An understanding of the value of Behaviour Change Science to improve antibiotic prescribing
  • Examples of successful antibiotic stewardship from across the globe

Who is this accredited by?

Royal College of Pathologists
Royal College of Pathologists:

The Royal College of Pathologists is a professional membership organisation with charitable status, concerned with all matters relating to the science and practice of pathology.

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

  • Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Assess the threat of antibiotic resistance in the learner's location and to their practice
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of using certain strategies/tools/interventions in antimicrobial stewardship to drive improvement in learner's location and practice
  • Understand the value of measurement in antimicrobial stewardship: how to calculate DDDs and use Point Prevalence Surveys, have begun to determine how to use these in their location and practice to drive improvements in antibiotic prescribing
  • Assess the value of novel diagnostics to clinical decision making for optimal antibiotic prescribing
  • Understand the value of Behaviour Change Science to successful antimicrobial stewardship: by assessing issues around culture and context learners will explore how you can apply this evidence in their own setting
  • Examples of successful antimicrobial stewardship implementation from across the globe will be provided and learners encouraged to assess the value of these for their own location and practice

Who is the course for?

This course requires an active interest and prior experience in the prevention, diagnosis and management of infectious disease. This version is for learners who prefer to participate in English.

You can also join the course in the following language versions:

  • Espanol: Optimización del uso de antimicrobianos: Gestión de la resistencia a los antimicrobianos
  • 中文: 抗菌素管理: 管理抗生素耐药性
  • Pусский: Стратегия контроля антимикробной терапии (СКАТ): контроль антибиотикорезистентности

What software or tools do you need?

None

What do people say about this course?

"Thanks for such a descriptive and interesting course, very demanding with lots of extra material to read but at the same time very informative! I hope that many of us will be able to apply the knowledge and champion the antibiotic stewardship in the future!"

Who will you learn with?

I am a doctor with 25+ years of interest and experience in improving the use of antibiotics. Through better education, to promote better patient management and treatment.

Who developed the course?

University of Dundee

The University of Dundee is one of the world’s Top 200 universities and was named Scottish University of the Year for both 2016 and 2017. Dundee offers one of the UK’s best student experiences.

BSAC

Founded in 1971, the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy exists to facilitate the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge in the field of antimicrobial chemotherapy.

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Ways to learn

Choose the best way to learn for you!

Subscribe & save

$27.99

For the first two months. Automatically renews

Develop skills to further your career

  • Access to this course
  • Access to 1,000+ courses
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Digital certificate when you're eligible

Cancel for free anytime

Buy this course

$134/one-off payment

Fulfill your current learning need

  • Access to this course
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Printed and digital certificate when you’re eligible

Limited access

Free

Sample the course materials

  • Access expires 30 Apr 2024

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

T&Cs apply.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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