ID Help and Resources

[DrgsRmyLife]

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What is the best resources that you guys have used to learn ID, because let me tell you this stuff is overwhelming at times. Any help on study aides or study strategies would be great.

 

[Epic]

What is the best resources that you guys have used to learn ID, because let me tell you this stuff is overwhelming at times. Any help on study aides or study strategies would be great.

This may be unorthodox but one of the most useful tool for me was a poster size antibiogram/sensitivity chart. The antibiogram I like is published by "Hospital Pharmacy" journal which is a free subscription. Not sure if they still publish it.

I used to be glued to the chart....

Since the chart neatly broke down each class of antimicrobials along with different classification of bacteria, it wasn't long before I realized which class of antibiotics killed which class of bugs. This was fascinating for me. A class of medication that was a "Cure" rather than a "Maintenance."

Don't get me wrong. It requires a solid basic understanding of microbiology and pharmacology & Pharmacokinetics of antimicrobials. And that will take time to learn. But visualizing the different classes of antimicrobials on the chart allowed me to learn ID with ease.

Also, working in IV room and every different satelite at a large teaching pediatric institution while in pharmacy school was a tremendous help in learnig not only ID but everything else. The pharmacists used to grill us at every chance. I loved it.

Bottom Line: You have to love antimicrobials. I do. Then learn one drug at a time by categorizing it.

Beta Lactams
Macrolides
Quinolones
Sulfonamides
Glycopeptides
Aminoglycosides
Oxazolidinone
etc..

Then categorize and breakdown the bugs...

Then match em up and see what kills what.

When I assess clinical pharmacy program at hospitals, antimicrobial expenditure is the first thing I look at. And by looking at the cost and the level of utilization, I get a fairly accurate understanding of their entire clinical pharmacy program. And we're always looking for clinicians with a solid ID background.

Man..I hope you mean Infectious Disease when you said ID...not Industrial Design...

 

[Epic]

I'm not sure what year pharmacy student you are, but get you a Sanford Guideline and download IDSA guidelines and read em at leisure.

http://www.idsociety.org/pg/toc.htm

If you're not familiar with drugs and bugs, IDSA guildines will be greek to you..since it covers disease state. So, you can see that ID encompasses

Microbiology
Pharmacology
Pharmcokinetices
Pharmacotherapeutics
Pathology

It's a big topic. And you're not going to learn it in one semester.

I'm still learning.