Can medical students do anything useful to support the antimicrobial resistance agenda?

Abstract

The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a current and future challenge for patients and clinicians, but the role of medical students in combating AMR is not well established. The most important role for students would be supporting the agenda of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), which is an effective and evidence-based set of actions that mitigate the emergence of resistance. Medical students can be seen as unlikely activists, who have a strong track record of becoming activists for other causes. If they could extend this activist role to AMR/AMS, they could have outsized impact. In order to achieve this, it is imperative that students begin to organize in their own institutions, in collaboration with those working in other disciplines.