Impact of UG Training on Understanding the Severity of Antimicrobial Resistance

Antibiotic resistance is increasing at an alarming rate. Many reasons are there which need urgent attention toward this problem. Efforts in all directions are required to address this serious issue. The irrational prescribing habits of physicians lead to increasing morbidity, mortality, and treatment costs. One of the key components of the system is the prescriber and their practices. In the present study, efforts were made to know the understanding of the medical students about the severity of the problem and to find out the focus area that needs to be modified.

The perception of rational antimicrobial use was seen to be definitely improved after the training. Although the curriculum equipped the students with a theory base, a lack of clinical navigation and knowledge was observed. It was deemed necessary and important to include learning of antimicrobial use for all years of UG medical training. Moreover, educational interventional studies should continue to be carried out to understand what curriculum works best for equipping UG students for rational antimicrobial usage in clinical practice. There is also a need to enrich existing courses and training about antibiotic use in the curriculum of the medical course with more emphasis on antimicrobial stewardship.