Evaluation of effectiveness of a continuing education program on antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a course designed to increase use of the most recently published Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and reporting.

Design: A one-day continuing education course in AST was designed and delivered at multiple sites. Data collected from course evaluations, pre- and post-tests, and pre- and post-practices assessments were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the training.

Setting: The same course was held in 31 cities across the United States (US).

Participants: Clinical laboratory scientists who attended the courses.

Main Outcome Measures: Participant satisfaction; AST knowledge; number of labs using most recent CLSI standards; compliance with 28 specific CLSI AST recommendations.

Results: Data indicate a high level of participant satisfaction, a gain in AST knowledge, an increase in the number of laboratories acquiring the most recently published CLSI guidelines, and improvement in 4 of 28 specific AST practices.