Background: The undergraduate medical curriculum has undergone a major revision. This study was designed to systematically review the revised Indian medical school curriculum to assess the extent of coverage of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antibiotic stewardship-related competencies.
Methods: We undertook a document review of the recently revised Indian medical curriculum to identify the extent of coverage of competencies related to AMR and antibiotic stewardship. With the use of a previously described search strategy, we queried the online freely accessible version of the curriculum in duplicate and independently. We describe by volume, by subject and by the tenets of Miller's pyramid all references to AMR and stewardship.
Results: Out of 2939 competencies that medical students are expected to complete over a 5.5-year period, 17 (0.57%) relate to AMR and antibiotic stewardship policies (ASP). There are no references to AMR or ASP in Pediatrics, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ear, Nose and Throat, Ophthalmology and Orthopedics. Community Medicine has few links through integrated teaching but has no direct AMR or ASP content. When categorized by Miller's domains, two of the competencies, both in Pharmacology, deal with the "Does" category, which is the practical skill gained by the student. There are five competencies which belong to the "Shows How" category and the remaining 10 belong to the knowledge categories.
Discussion: There is poor coverage of AMR and stewardship in the revised Indian medical curriculum, suggesting that there is very little appreciation of the enormous threat that AMR poses to public health. This is a huge missed opportunity that needs immediate corrective action.
Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; curriculum; medical education.