Edastuskiri

To:         National Focal Point for Healthcare-associated infections – Members

CC:       National Focal Point for Healthcare-associated infections – Alternates

CC:       National Focal Point for Public Health Training – Members and Alternates

CC:       National Focal Point for Antimicrobial resistance – Members and Alternates

CC:       National Focal Point for Antimicrobial consumption - Members and Alternates

CC:       National Coordinators of ECDC Coordinating Competent Bodies

CC:       Vicky Lefevre, Head of Unit Surveillance, Preparedness and Response, ECDC

CC:       Jeanine Pommier, Head of Section Public Health Training, ECDC

CC:       [email protected]

CC:       [email protected]

Dear Colleagues,

ECDC is planning to organise next year’s Summer School as a ‘Training of Trainers (ToT) course on MDRO prevention and control’.

The course will be delivered in person in English on 19-21 May 2026 at ECDC premises in Stockholm, Sweden. In addition, participants will be required to attend two half-day online sessions, including one preparatory session (spring 2026, date to be confirmed) and one follow-up session (winter 2026/2027, date to confirmed).

This email is sent only for information purposes about the upcoming training activity.  No action is required at this stage from your side.

In coming days, National Focal Point for Healthcare-associated infections (Members), will receive an individual email from ECDCEventNominations-noreply with the link to nominate two participant(s) from each country (two major participants and maximum two alternates) and instructions on the nomination process.

Please find below more specific information about the training.

Scope and purpose

This Summer School will prepare professionals already working in the fields of infection prevention and control (IPC) and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) to teach IPC and AMS practices, including in relation to the prevention and control of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). Course participants will use the IPC and AMS materials provided by ECDC to share and practice teaching and training skills together.

The aim of this course is to build capacity in trainers to share knowledge and applications of IPC and AMS. This course is not intended to teach IPC and AMS but rather provide tools and practice for training others on these topics. This course builds upon existing knowledge of MDROs, IPC, and AMS acquired in other courses such as ECDC’s annual MDRO course.

Course participants are expected to apply their acquired knowledge by planning and delivering training activities to other trainers within their national or institutional settings. Each participant is expected to commit to implementing at least half a day of instructor-led training within one year of completing the course. To achieve this, participants can tailor the training materials provided during the Summer School to their local context, utilising the toolkit shared by ECDC.

The course is intended to enable participants acquire skills in teaching and training adults, particularly on core concepts of MDROs such as epidemiology, mechanisms of resistance, behaviour change, clinical significance and public health implications.

The course will also prepare participants to teach either: 1) IPC principles and practice for the reduction of MDRO transmission in healthcare settings; or 2) AMS strategies and practice to minimise the emergence of MDROs.

It is recommended but not required that participants from the same country collaborate to deliver the training jointly within their national or institutional settings.

Objectives

The course will cover:

• Principles of adult learning and training.

• How to develop training and facilitation skills to deliver engaging and impactful MDRO-related education to diverse audiences (e.g. healthcare workers, students, other staff).

• How to create a training plan and context-specific training materials tailored to different healthcare environments and learner needs.

• How to evaluate and monitor training impact by assessing knowledge transfer, practice changes, and compliance with guidelines.

These skills will be applied to teaching core concepts and practices in MDRO prevention and control. As part of this course, participants will practice delivering training in their area of expertise: IPC or AMS.

Target audience

Proposed participants should be professionals with expertise in IPC or AMS who are actively engaged in these activities in their everyday work and are expected to teach IPC or AMS as part of their scope of practice. Participants may be infection control practitioners, antimicrobial stewardship professionals, infectious disease physicians, microbiologists, hospital pharmacists, or allied health professionals.

Participants should meet the following criteria:

• Be healthcare professionals from EU/EEA countries;

• Have a minimum of five years’ experience working in hospitals or other healthcare institutions;

• Demonstrate proficiency in the daily practice of IPC or AMS;

• Be fluent in English and comfortable with interactive, participatory learning formats and active engagement in group discussions;

• Be positioned to serve as a lead trainer or facilitator for IPC or AMS training within their institution.

Note that this training is not designed for individuals who are not actively involved in IPC and AMS practices (e.g., public health professionals involved mainly in HAI, AMR, or AMC surveillance and/or responsible for regulatory control activities at national level). However, ECDC strongly recommends that that participants actively liaise and collaborate with national-level counterparts to promote broad dissemination of the course’s impact beyond their institutional settings and to support wider national-level outreach.

Nomination process

In coming days National Focal Point for Healthcare-associated infections (Members), will receive an individual email from ECDCEventNominations-noreply, to nominate two participants (one with IPC profile and one with AMS profile). The deadline for nominations will be the in second half of January 2026.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Kind regards,

Vicky Lefevre

Head of Unit Surveillance, Preparedness and Response