Preventing the Post-Antibiotic Era by Training Future Pharmacists as Antimicrobial Stewards

Abstract

Antimicrobials enable modern medicine, but their efficacy is a limited resource. In the past 20 years, antimicrobial development has slowed dramatically while antimicrobial resistance continues to rise. In response to this, there has been an increased focus on strategically managing antimicrobial use with an approach called "antimicrobial stewardship." Antimicrobial stewardship programs have been endorsed by health systems, professional societies, regulators, and government. These programs have been shown to reduce antimicrobial use, slow the growth of antimicrobial resistance, and improve patient outcomes. This commentary will discuss recent mandates for antimicrobial stewardship, compare current approaches to teaching infectious diseases pharmacotherapy with the skills and knowledge required for antimicrobial stewardship, and provide recommendations for and examples of best practices in training student pharmacists to become antimicrobial stewards.