Course Description
This course is designed to increase the learner’s knowledge of challenges related to antimicrobial pharmacotherapy and how they can be addressed by individual patients or providers, as well as by the health system or policy makers on a broader level. The course will introduce basic principles of pharmacokinetics to help learners examine common ways to optimize effectiveness of and minimize adverse outcomes related to antimicrobials.
The course will enhance the learner’s ability to understand complications related to infectious diseases treatment, such as emergence of resistance and microbiome disruption. The course will discuss antimicrobial stewardship practices in various settings, including roles played by healthcare professionals and actions that can be taken by informed consumers and patients. Learners in this course will be able to explain how characteristics of the U.S. healthcare system, such as medical costs and drug shortages, contribute to challenges with antimicrobial use, and they will consider ways to combat these challenges. The intended audience for this course is undergraduate students who are intending a career in the health sciences and students who wish to work in a health-related industry in which some knowledge of the healthcare system may be useful.
Objectives
After completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Describe the significance of antimicrobials for treating infectious diseases and identify challenges related to antimicrobial access, effectiveness, and safety
- Recognize the difficulty in optimizing antimicrobial therapies in the context of widespread drug shortages and limitations in new drug development
- Define and apply basic pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic concepts used to optimize use of antimicrobial therapies
- Discuss challenges in managing antimicrobial therapies, such as antimicrobial resistance and disruption of the microbiome
- Recognize the goals of antimicrobial stewardship and propose actions that can be taken on an individual and systemic level to promote optimal antimicrobial use, not only for healthcare settings, but also agricultural, industry, retail, and community settings.
- Identify opportunities for engagement in lifelong learning as a patient and citizen
- Critically evaluate concepts discussed in this course using reliable information
- Communicate concepts discussed in this course in a clear and accessible manner using plain language
Topics
- History and significance of antimicrobial development and emergence of resistance
- Using evidence to guide decision-making and evaluating reliability of resources
- Concepts of pharmacokinetics and mechanism of action for common antimicrobial types
- Introduction to complications related to antimicrobial use
- Methods to combat antimicrobial resistance in outpatient and inpatient settings from perspectives of patients, family members, and healthcare professionals with different areas of expertise
- Complications of antimicrobial use related to microbiome disruption, such as C. difficile Infection and other superinfections
- Infection prevention methods, including vaccines and antimicrobial prophylaxis
- Medication costs as a barrier to optimal antimicrobial therapy
- Drug shortages: contributing factors, clinical impact, and mitigation strategies
- Challenges around new antibiotic development and why traditional incentives and reimbursement strategies are inadequate
- Antimicrobial use in nonclinical settings, such as agriculture and consumer products, and how these relate to antimicrobial resistance or changes to the microbiome in humans
- Global differences in antimicrobial use and impact on stewardship