title: Online continuing interprofessional education on hospital-acquired infections for Latin America.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Latin America is a large and diverse region, comprising more than 600 million inhabitants and one million physicians in over 20 countries. Resistance to antibacterial drugs is particularly important in the region. This paper describes the design, implementation and results of an international bi-lingual (Spanish and Portuguese) online continuing interprofessional interactive educational program on hospital-acquired infections and antimicrobial resistance for Latin America, supported by the American Society for Microbiology.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participation, satisfaction and knowledge gain (through pre and post tests) were used. Moreover, commitment to change statements were requested from participants at the end of the course and three months later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 1169 participants from 19 Latin American countries who registered: 57% were physicians and 43% were other health care professionals. Of those, 1126 participated in the course, 46% received a certificate of completion and 54% a certificate of participation. There was a significant increase in knowledge between before and after the course. Of 535 participants who took both tests, the grade increased from 59 to 81%. Commitments to change were aligned with course objectives.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Implementation of this educational program showed the feasibility of a continent-wide interprofessional massive course on hospital acquired-infections in Latin America, in the two main languages spoken in the region. Next steps included a new edition of this course and a "New Challenges" course on hospital-acquired infections, which were successfully implemented in the second semester of 2015 by the same institutions.
authors.affiliation: Universidad de la República, Facultad de Medicina, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Julio C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Medina-Presentado
authors.affiliation: Universidad de la República, Facultad de Ingeniería, Montevideo, Uruguay; EviMed, Montevideo, Uruguay. Electronic address: Alvaro.Margolis@evimed.net.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Margolis
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; American Society for Microbiology, Washington DC, United States.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: EviMed, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Leticia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lorier
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gales
authors.affiliation: Universidad de la República, Facultad de Medicina, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Graciela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pérez-Sartori
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maura S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Universidad de la República, Facultad de Medicina, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Seija
authors.affiliation: Universidad de la República, Facultad de Medicina, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Paciel
authors.affiliation: Universidad de la República, Facultad de Medicina, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vignoli
authors.affiliation: Universidad de la República, Facultad de Medicina, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.affiliation: Universidad de la República, Facultad de Medicina, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Albornoz
authors.affiliation: Universidad de la República, Facultad de Medicina, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Zaida
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Arteta
authors.affiliation: Universidad de la República, Facultad de Ingeniería, Montevideo, Uruguay; EviMed, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lopez-Arredondo
authors.affiliation: EviMed, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Sofía
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: García
mesh_terms: D003428:Cross Infection; D004496:Education, Continuing / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D004517:Education, Professional / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D020407:Internet; D007843:Latin America; D019303:Multilingualism
keywords: Continuing education; Hospital-acquired infections; Internet; Interprofessional education; Latin America; MOOC