Welcome to the course

Welcome to this course on Procalcitonin as a biomarker for antimicrobial stewardship. This course has been developed by experts in the field of infection.

Over the next 3 weeks we will explore different diagnostics, in particular procalcitonin and their uses within antimicrobial stewardship. Through case studies, we will look at the use of procalcitonin inside and outside of the ICU and we will discuss the use of procalcitonin in the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, we will examine the limitations and barriers of procalcitonin.

In the first week we will introduce diagnostics and discuss what tools you might have used. We explore procalcitonin and its benefits specifically. We will then introduce antimicrobial stewardship and how this is relevant to procalcitonin. By the end of this week, you will be able to:

• Be able to describe the role of diagnostics, in particular procalcitonin
• Understand the importance of antimicrobial stewardship and the role procalcitonin plays in it

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

If you would like to be notified of news related to procalcitonin, you can sign up for the BRAHMS PCT newsletter. Thermofisher have provided an educational grant for this course.

Using FutureLearn courses

If you are new to FutureLearn courses, click here for a guide on how to engage with the course. Learners are encouraged to introduce themselves and to participate in course discussions and quizzes. Any comments left by users can be viewed by all learners. We encourage you to interact with other learners by ‘liking’ and replying to their comments.

Learners can also upgrade to have:

• 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.

Before we begin, we would like to remind you of FutureLearn’s Code of Conduct which should be considered before participating in the discussions throughout this course.

This course has been approved by The Royal College of Pathologists at a level of 3 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 and faculties for all approved activities.

Please note 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 or offering CPD.

Enjoy

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