Training Workshop on Rational Use of Anti-Microbial for House Officers and Fresh Medical Graduates

Abstract

Background: Antibiotics are one of the most important therapeutic discoveries in the history of medicine. Its effectiveness in killing microorganisms has led to their misuse and overuse. Due to its widespread use, bacteria responded with different ways to resist the killing power of antibiotics. The situation is becoming dangerous everyday. To curb development of antimicrobial resistance and its spread, one of the important weapons is to use antibiotics judiciously. In such background training workshop on rational use of antimicrobials becomes highly significant in order to improve prescribing, dispensing and use. Methods: Fresh medical graduates and house officers from 9 hospitals and medical colleges were selected. A total of 19 participants took part in the training. Lectures and discussions were used in the training. The training was evaluated before and after training to assess participant's knowledge on prudent use of antibiotics. The answers were coded and analyzed manually. Test of significance was done by chi-square test at 95% confidence limit. Results: There was a significant increase in knowledge on factors contributing to the emergence of drug resistant microbes (pre-22.2%, post-83.3%), development of resistance (pre-5.6%, post-77.8%), multi-drug resistance (pre-50%, post-88.9%) and communicable diseases from animal food products. Conclusions: The training workshop was effective in improving the knowledge of the participants on the prudent use of antibiotics. Keywords: antibiotics; antimicrobial resistance; knowledge; prudent use; resistant; training workshop.