MBI-8005 Antimicrobial Resistance - 3 stp

PhD course. It is available as a singular course.

PhD students and students at the Medical Student Research Program at UiT - The Arctic University of Norway apply for admission by registering for class in Studentweb by September 1st.

Application deadline for other applicants is 1 June. Application code is 9301.

The course will provide detailed insight and knowledge of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria. The objectives will include understanding of principles regarding antibiotic resistance, methods for detection of resistance, clinical breakpoints, resistance epidemiology, mechanisms for resistance development/evolution and spread, drivers behind development of antimicrobial resistance, clinically important resistance mechanisms in bacteria, molecular methods for typing of resistance bacterial clones and concepts in drug discovery.

Students shall prepare individually by studying 15-20 selected peer reviewed scientific articles, which together account for about 100 000 words. These articles will be regular experimental studies and review articles covering the different aspects described above regarding antimicrobial resistance.

All students meet in a joint four-day gathering at the Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, campus Tromsø, to attend lab demonstrations with related theoretical instructions. It will be performed demonstrations for phenotypic methods to detect susceptibility to antimicrobial agent in bacteria. The students will also present and critically review one given article in a 20-minute (skype) lecture.

PhD students, students at a Student Research Programme or holders of a Norwegian master´s degree of five years or 3 + 2 years (or equivalent) may be admitted.

Applicants who are affiliated with the National Graduate School IBA will be prioritized for admission if the number of applicants exceeds the course capacity of 25 students.

After completing the course the students will have the:

Knowledge to:

• Discuss the mode of action of major antibiotic classes
• Understand the basic principles in pheno- and genotypic methods for antimicrobial susceptibility testing
• Consider the clinical consequences of antimicrobial resistance
• Discuss clinically important antimicrobial resistance mechanisms in bacteria
• Discuss the evolution of and drivers behind the development of antimicrobial resistance
• Discuss concepts in drug discovery

Skills to:

• Justify which methods to be used for pheno- and genotypic detection of bacterial susceptibility to antimicrobial agents
• Critically evaluate scientific papers to disseminate advanced knowledge of antimicrobial resistance
• Draw scientific conclusions and defend own research in scientific presentation

Competence to:

• Explain differences between the main genetic mechanisms in the spread of antimicrobial resistance
• Explain the use of molecular methods in typing of antimicrobial resistant bacterial clones