Balancing Acts in Pharmacy Practice: Antimicrobial Stewardship and Navigating Over-the-Counter Medications

No CME/CPD credits | An analog clock in color black

40 Minutes | A black calendar with white triangle in center that has a black exclamation point in the middle

28 Jun 2025

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Overview

About this course

Antimicrobial resistance is a globally rising phenomenon and continues to be a public health threat. An antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) team, comprised of infectious diseases-trained pharmacists and doctors, hold the crucial role of implementing direct and sustainable patient care activities that can successfully control antimicrobial resistance and improve patient outcomes. The first lecture of this e-learning module discusses the role and strategies of an AMS team and how non-AMS trained pharmacists can help promote antimicrobial stewardship.

The relationship between over-the-counter drugs, self-care, and public health is complex. The second lecture of this e-learning module focuses on how the community pharmacist can effectively engage with patients when supplying over-the-counter drugs whilst promoting medication safety.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning module, participants should be able to:

Outline the process of antimicrobial resistance development.
Recognize the role and need of an antimicrobial stewardship team in hospitals.
Identify different direct patient care activities that promote antimicrobial stewardship and achieve better patient outcomes.
Acknowledge in their role in preventing antimicrobial resistance and misuse of over-the-counter drugs.
Understand the relationship between over-the-counter drugs, self-care, and public health.
Identify the common misconceptions and challenges patients face when selecting over-the-counter drugs.
Adopt communication strategies that aim to build trust and rapport with patients when supplying over-the-counter drugs.