• BSAC logo

Antimicrobial Stewardship in Veterinary Practice

How can good antimicrobial stewardship prevent antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in veterinary practices? Find out on this course.

6,364 enrolled on this course

Image showing a collection of farmyard animals
  • Duration

    3 weeks
  • Weekly study

    3 hours
  • Accreditation

    AvailableMore info

Learn how to improve antimicrobial stewardship as a veterinary nurse or surgeon

Vets and human health professionals both have a responsibility to address the challenge of antimicrobial stewardship. Veterinary nurses, surgeons and pharmacists need the skills to prescribe antibiotics rationally and responsibly.

On this interactive course, you’ll challenge the norms of veterinary prescribing and gain the tools needed to introduce good antimicrobial stewardship practices in your own context. You will explore the challenges of monitoring responsible medicine use and relevant solutions. You will gain the confidence needed to instil change in your own veterinary practice.

What topics will you cover?

  • Risks for and mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
  • Veterinary prescribing behaviour, antimicrobial use and AMR: external influences and internal motivations
  • Species-specific challenges to good antimicrobial stewardship
  • Clinical governance and monitoring antimicrobial prescribing patterns
  • Evidence-based veterinary medicine and best-practice prescribing
  • Antimicrobial stewardship in practice: Strategies for motivating change towards more responsible antimicrobial use

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...

  • Explain the importance of and reflect on their responsibility for antimicrobial stewardship within their local context, in relation to the big picture of One Health, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and preventative healthcare
  • Evaluate the risks for AMR development and transmission globally and within their local context, and the relationship between prescribing behaviour and AMR development
  • Reflect on the internal and external, systemic and human factors that influence their current prescribing practices within their local context and identify opportunities for change
  • Evaluate current antimicrobial use and stewardship within the veterinary practices in which they work and engage with the challenges to responsible antimicrobial use
  • Develop and lead strategies to motivate good antimicrobial stewardship practices and implement interventions to increase effective prescribing

Who is the course for?

This course is for veterinary surgeons, nurses and pharmacists with a basic clinical knowledge of antimicrobial prescribing practice. The course has a focus on the UK context but can be applied internationally.

Who will you learn with?

David Tisdall is Head of Department of Clinical Veterinary Sciences and Senior Teaching Fellow in Production Animal Medicine at the University of Surrey School of Veterinary Medicine.

I have worked as a livestock veterinarian in three countries and am now Reader in Veterinary Epidemiology and Population Health at the Bristol Veterinary School.

Finola (Nola) Leonard specialises in veterinary bacteriology and infectious disease. She is Chair of the UCD Veterinary Hospital Infection Control Committee and the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab Committee

I am a specialist cattle vet working at the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science. I have a particular interest in herd health and in farm vet careers and education.

I'm a veterinary dermatologist. I also work with the Controlling Antimicrobial Resistance in Scotland partnership through the Scottish Veterinary Antimicrobial Prescribing Group.

I am Professor of General Practice at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and Director of Professional Development overseeing the RVC's continuing education programmes.

Nicola is a microbiologist who works on antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial prescribing practice, looking at drivers for use, selection and transmission of AMR in a range of animal species.

Who developed the course?

BSAC

Founded in 1971, the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy is committed to addressing the growing threat of drug resistant infections around the world.

Endorsers and supporters

content provided by

University College Dublin

content provided by

University of Bristol

content provided by

University of Edinburgh

content provided by

University of Liverpool logo

content provided by

University of Nottingham

content provided by

Royal Veterinary College logo

content provided by

University of Surrey logo

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

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

Learner reviews

Learner reviews cannot be loaded due to your cookie settings. Please and refresh the page to view this content.

Get a taste of this course

Find out what this course is like by previewing some of the course steps before you join:

Do you know someone who'd love this course? Tell them about it...

You can use the hashtag #VetAMS to talk about this course on social media.