AMMI Canada Antimicrobial Access Interest Group

The purpose of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Committee

To assess the professional development needs of all AMMI Canada members and facilitate the development of meaningful, effective continuous professional development curricula and to serve as a national resource for postgraduate microbiology and infectious diseases programs and physician organizations providing content advice and accreditation of continuing medical education in infectious disease and medical microbiology.

GOALS

To conduct biennial, comprehensive professional development needs assessments of our membership (Canadian physicians in the fields of medical microbiology and infectious disease), in addition to regular, focused needs assessments, as required.
To perform biennial environmental scans (alternating years with needs assessments) to identify unperceived learning needs in the fields of infectious disease and medical microbiology.
To provide multimodal education across all sections of the CPD framework (group learning, self-learning, and assessment) that addresses perceived and unperceived gaps in knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes to promote a practice change with the intent of improving patient outcomes.
To evaluate the effectiveness and outcomes of AMMI Canada CPD initiatives through learner feedback.
To provide accreditation for infectious diseases and medical microbiology educational programs for the Royal College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Canada.

AIMS and OBJECTIVES

Access to effective antimicrobials is crucial for treating infections in Canadians. However, some essential drugs are unavailable because they are not approved for use in Canada. The AMMI Canada Antimicrobial Access Interest Group (AAIG) aims to improve access to these critical antimicrobials.

Members of the interest group bring expertise in infectious diseases, medical microbiology, pharmacotherapy, healthcare delivery and health services research. The group aims to share knowledge and collaborate with clinicians, prescribers, pharmacists, researchers and public health authorities.

The group’s overall objective: to ensure Canadians have access to these vital antimicrobials when needed, by addressing and reducing barriers to their availability.

Should you wish to be added to the dedicated distribution list for the Antimicrobial Access Interest Group, please contact riccarda@ammi.ca

Approval for Future Use of Last-Resort Antibiotics through Health Canada’s Special Access Program

Speakers: Kevin Afra, Angus Kinkade, Cesilia Nishi