Antimicrobial Stewardship Training for Infectious Diseases Fellows: Program Directors Identify a Curriculum Need

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Education
• Antimicrobial Stewardship

Background:

• Training infectious diseases (ID) fellows requires robust educational resources, particularly in antimicrobial stewardship.
• Needs assessment surveys indicated significant gaps in current training and evaluation methods for ID fellows in this critical area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify deficiencies in educational materials for training and assessing infectious diseases fellows in antimicrobial stewardship.
• To develop a comprehensive core curriculum addressing the identified needs in antimicrobial stewardship education.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a needs assessment survey targeting directors of infectious diseases training programs.
• Analyzed survey data to pinpoint specific gaps in antimicrobial stewardship education and evaluation resources.
• Designed and implemented a core curriculum based on the survey findings.

Main Results:

• The needs assessment highlighted a critical lack of adequate educational resources for training and evaluating ID fellows in antimicrobial stewardship.
• Significant variability and insufficiency in existing training programs were identified.

Conclusions:

• There is a clear need for standardized, high-quality educational resources in antimicrobial stewardship for infectious diseases fellowship programs.
• The developed Infectious Diseases Society of America-sponsored core curriculum aims to bridge the identified educational gaps and enhance fellow competency in antimicrobial stewardship.