Format: Online
Dates: 2025
Level 2: Consolidating Clinical Practice It includes self-learning resources and assessments, 2 live events, fellowships. Available from January 2025 and remains open during the entire pathway.
Directors
Elsa AFONSO MSc, BSc (Hons), RN – HEA Fellow Senior Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Andrew CONWAY MORRIS MD, PhD, MRC – Clinician Scientist, University of Cambridge; Honorary Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Liesbet DE BUS MD PhD, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent; Department of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, BelgiumRicard FERRER MD, PhD, Head of Intensive Care Department / SODIR Research group-VHIR, University Hospital Vall d’Hebron; Associate Professor University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Past Chair of Systemic Inflammation and Sepsis (SIS) Section, ESICM
Learning Objectives
- Define key terminology related to infections and sepsis.
- Understand the epidemiology of infections, distinguishing between community-acquired and hospital-acquired infections, and recognize relevant risk factors.
- Identify the clinical presentations, appropriate investigations, and establish accurate diagnoses for various infections.
- Apply initial management principles following the Surviving Sepsis Campaign care bundles.
- Demonstrate knowledge of core antimicrobial principles, including timely administration of the first dose and the role of source control.
- Understand the basics of organ support in the context of severe infection and sepsis.
- Determine and manage infections according to their source, incorporating microbiological findings:
- Respiratory tract and thoracic infections
- Abdominal infections
- Urinary and pelvic infections
- Skin, soft tissue, musculoskeletal and surgical site infections
- Bloodstream infections including infective endocarditis
- Central nervous system infections
- Specific infectious diseases (e.g., leptospirosis, malaria, TSS, TB, etc.)
- Device-associated infections
- Address special considerations, such as infections in immunocompromised patients, and apply antimicrobial stewardship principles.
- Implement and promote infection control and prevention measures, including surveillance practices.
- Explore future prevention strategies, such as the use of vaccines and educational initiatives.
Live event #1 (online): Consolidating clinical practice in Sepsis and Infections (March 2025)
Learning Objectives
- Introduce the epidemiology of sepsis
- Setting the diagnosis of sepsis
- Early sepsis recognition
- Importance of source identification
- Highlight pro-and cons of the bundles/initial treatment steps when suspecting sepsis/severe infection, controversies. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign 1-hour bundles
- Severe infection: define, detect, act
- Evaluate complicated abdominal infection, role of combination therapy (macrolides / fluoroquinolones) – role of steroids
- Assess frailty and comorbidities
- Evaluate community-acquired pneumonia and understand the role of source control / different options to obtain source control (ESICM CAP guidlines – https://www.esicm.org/esicm-talk-guidelines-for-the-management-of-severe-community-acquired-pneumonia/)
- Highlight important steps within the diagnostic and antimicrobial decision-making process
- Candida sepsis – setting the diagnosis right: scores, biomarkers; selected agents and TDM; (satellite infection).
- Evaluate fungal infection in the transplant patient, diagnostics in transplant vs. neutropenic patients: guidelines, scores, biomarkers; selected agents and TDM.
- Highlight the management steps of sepsis following the first hour; resuscitation goals; vasopressors, preferred choices, newer agents.
- Evaluate skin & soft tissue infection considering antimicrobial de-escalation
- Evaluate hospital-acquired/ ventilation-acquired pneumonia treating MDR pathogens
- Understand the role of combination therapy
- Evaluate meningitis and understand the role of therapeutic drug monitoring
- Evaluate urinary tract infection
Key messages Day 1 & Day 2
Live event #2 (online): Consolidating AMS practice and addressing AMR (May 2025)
Learning Objectives
- Understand the extent and impact of antimicrobial resistance both now and in the future
- Be able to describe the core principals of antimicrobial stewardship
- Understand the role of diagnostic tests and processes in antimicrobial stewardship
- Understand the principles of microbiological testing and antimicrobial sensitivity testing, and how these influence treatment decisions in the ICU
- Describe the roles of the members of the antimicrobial stewardship team, and how these can be substituted if roles not available at specific sites.
- Explain the role of source control in antimicrobial stewardship
- Understand the principles of antimicrobial pharmacology and how these are applied at the bedside.
- Describe a rational approach to selection of antimicrobials considering microbial coverage and resistance, site of infection, antimicrobial pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic considerations
- Explain the importance of infection prevention and control to antimicrobial stewardship
- Understand the wider role of antimicrobial stewardship teams at the unit and hospital level, the importance of microbial and antimicrobial data and policy level interventions to improve stewardship.
Registration requirements
Registration to the pathway is FREE of charge and will allow participants to study all the resources available.
Pathway content is available in the dedicated online classroom.
Target
The programme targets doctors, clinical pharmacists, nurses and allied healthcare professionals working in ICU, and will support them in their efforts of continuous professional development and learning continuum, undertaken to provide appropriate care to their patients.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the unrestricted educational support from bioMérieux. The programme has not been influenced in any way by its sponsor.
Accreditation
The Consolidating clinical practice in Sepsis and Infections Live event, 25/03/2025 – 26/03/2025 organized by European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) has been accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME®) for a maximum of 14.5 European CME credits (ECMEC®s).
The Consolidating AMS practice and addressing AMR Live event, 13/05/2025 – 14/05/2025 organized by European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) has been accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME®) for a maximum of 13.0 European CME credits.
Endorsement: The pathway is endorsed by the Infection Section and the Systemic Inflammation and Sepsis Section, ESICM.
Further questions? Contact us at education@esicm.org