Activity information

The certificate of this course includes 2 CME credits. To complete the course you need to pass all quizzes. Only participants with an active Pro Membership will be able to claim CME. If you want to claim CME too, please upgrade to a Pro Membership.

Accreditation Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of CME Consultants and Medmastery GmbH. CME Consultants is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Credit Designation Statement

CME Consultants designates this online enduring material activity for a maximum of 2.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Desired Outcomes

  1. Summarize the mechanism of action of the major classes of antimicrobial agents
  2. Outline the clinical indications for the most commonly used drugs in the major classes
  3. Appreciate the spectrum of activity and risk of adverse reactions for drugs in each major class
  4. Select initial, empirical antibiotic therapy on the basis of treatment efficacy, severity of illness (e.g., sepsis), and the potential for adverse events including the development of antibiotic resistance
  5. Select the appropriate drug for a given infection with the lowest risk of facilitating antimicrobial resistance and the lowest risk of promoting C. difficile and other adverse events
  6. Treat for the shortest effective duration
  7. De-escalate initial empiric antimicrobial therapy based on culture results, susceptibility studies, and other diagnostic tests to minimize the use of unnecessarily broad-spectrum treatment
  8. Decide when a consultation with an antibiotic stewardship team and / or infectious diseases specialist is needed

Target Audience

This activity is geared to meet the educational requirements of Internists, Internal Medicine Residents, Internal Medicine Subspecialists—i.e., Cardiologists, Pulmonologists and Critical Care Specialists, Nephrologists, Gastroenterologists, Rheumatologists and Immunologists, Hematology-Oncology Specialists, Endocrinologists, etc., Emergency Medicine Physicians, Family Medicine Physicians, Pediatricians, Physician Assistants, and Clinical Nurse Practitioners.

Core Competencies

This activity encompasses the following desirable physician attributes: Patient Care & Procedural Skills, Medical Knowledge, Practice-Based Learning & Improvement, and Systems-Based Practice.

Format

The presentational method for this activity is Lecture.

Disclosure Statements

Commercial Support

There is no commercial support for this activity.

Planners

The planners of this activity have nothing to disclose.

Faculty

John F. Fisher, MD, MACP, FIDSA has nothing to disclose. The course content has been peer-reviewed for content validity and found to be evidenced-based, fair, balanced, and free from commercial bias.

Release Date

This activity was released for credit on July 29, 2019.

Review Date:

This activity was reviewed on July 16, 2021.

Termination Date

This activity is valid for credit through July 29, 2023.