The “Role of Diagnostics in the Response to Antimicrobial Resistance” (AMR) officially opens worldwide. The massive open online course (MOOC) is free to anyone who registers and has an internet connection.
The MOOC's creators, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), in partnership with Becton Dickinson and Company, and the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) hope to increase awareness and educate medical professionals about this rapidly escalating crisis.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a call to action: No action today, no cure tomorrow. The first step is awareness and education. The public and many frontline healthcare workers have limited understanding of the causes and implications of AMR, and even less understanding of how diagnostics can be used to combat AMR. This is why LSHTM created a MOOC on the use of diagnostics to reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics, screen patients with resistant bacteria in health care settings, and to monitor AMR trends and effectiveness of antibiotic stewardship strategies.
This MOOC is designed as a free, 6-week course, requiring only 2-4 hours of learning per week. Each week is divided into short steps allowing learners to stop and start when they want. The MOOC answers the questions of what AMR is, how it is caused and why it’s important to global health. It takes learners through the major diseases or conditions for which AMR is posing a serious threat to public health and patient management and explores the role of diagnostics in the AMR response. It is developed with faculty from all over the world and uses video and audio lectures, articles, animations and case studies from more than 25 countries and across a variety of clinical and laboratory settings. Learners will also benefit from an interactive discussion forum where they can share their experience with learners worldwide and pose questions to experts.
