An integrated infectious disease course for an entry-level doctor of pharmacy curriculum

An integrated introductory infectious disease course that incorporates pertinent clinical microbiology, antiinfective medicinal chemistry and drug treatment of common infectious disease entities, along with an applied microbiology skills laboratory was developed and begun in Fall semester 1996. The course is taught by four faculty members with medical, pharmacy practice, and medicinal chemistry training. There are 40 lectures and five exams. The course is divided into four weeks of microbiology, six weeks of medicinal chemistry, and five weeks of disease therapeutics. This course is part of an integrated year long sequence of medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, and therapeutic applications. The course content and delivery were assessed using an instrument made up of course objectives and topic headings.