Welcome to the course

Welcome to this course on Fungal Diagnostics in Critically Ill Patients, covering the role of fungal diagnostics in guiding treatment decisions.

Over the next three weeks, we will look closer into a variety of fungal diagnostics and how their situations make it difficult to navigate hospital stays with their complex needs. As hospitals can be rigid, rule-based places, developing novel and different ways to give care with patients being at the heart of it, allows healthcare to be accessible to vulnerable patients. This course combines information from healthcare professionals who work with vulnerable patients and personal experiences and case studies.

In this first week, we will explore the definition of fungi and discuss different species that commonly cause critical illness. We also look into fungal diagnostics, what makes a “good” diagnostic test and some evidence for using some of the tests that are commonly available.

A glossary of key terms for this course can be found in the downloads section below.

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• Unlimited access to the course: Go at your own pace with unlimited access to the course for as long as it exists on FutureLearn.
• A Certificate of Achievement: To help you demonstrate your learning we’ll send you a Certificate of Achievement when you become eligible – this can go towards CPD points.

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This course has been approved by The Royal College of Pathologists at a level of 9 credits. The RCPath CPD approval process is in line with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges standards and criteria for CPD activities framework guidance. Reciprocity has been agreed between colleges/faculties for all approved activities.

Please note that all who submit their details to the RCP to claim CPD agree that FutureLearn may need to share their data, including their progress on the course, with RCP for the purposes of auditing / offering CPD.

Enjoy

We hope you find this course useful and enjoy learning about fungal diagnostics! We value your input and encourage you to let us know your opinions in the comments as you go along.