Medical Microbiology is a unit of the Department of Pathology Laboratory Medicine concerned primarily with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention
of infectious diseases The unit has a leading role in activities related to teaching of health college students, patient care and research The following
subunits are under the umbrella of medical microbiology bacteriology, virology, parasitology, mycology, and molecular diagnostics The unit is also
strongly linked to the unit of clinical immunology
The specialty of Medical Microbiology consists of five general spheres of activity

• Scientific development, and administrative and clinical direction of the microbiology laboratory
• Clinical consultations, in both inpatient and outpatient settings, on the investigation, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of infectious diseases
• Infection prevention and control
• Antibiotic stewardship
• The epidemiology of communicable diseases
• The residents graduate after spending a total of five years of training in the Hospitals recognized by the program

Upon completion of training a resident is expected to be a competent specialist in Medical Microbiology, capable of practicing independently and assuming a consultant s role in the specialty (after completion of the required years of experience by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties)

• Finishing the five years of training specified in the program
• The training should contain all the subspecialties of Medical Microbiology (mentioned in introduction), infection control and infectious disease rotations
• Passing each end of year promotional criteria
• The training should be in hospitals specified and recognized by the program
   
  • These hospitals should be accredited by an international professional body, e g American College of Pathologists, Royal College of
    Pathologists of UK, Canadian Royal College of Physicians or the Royal College of Pathologists 6
  • Each hospital should have medically qualified Microbiologists
     
• Passing the final board examination which is composed of theoretical, practical and oral examinations

• Rotations in the different microbiology subunits and immunology Includes:
  • Bench level work
  • Laboratory rounds
  • Laboratory coverage
• Attending departmental seminars and tutorials
• Attending and presenting in the different academic activities:
  • Presentations: R1 discussion, Topic presentation
  • Plate rounds
• Attending and presenting at journal club meetings
• Attending discussions held with the different consultants
• Rotations in infection control
• Clinical rotations in infectious diseases
• Performing research projects
• Attending Riyadh microbiology and infectious disease club monthly meetings
• Residents are encouraged to attend local, national and international conferences

• R1 R2 will attend in the laboratory at the start of the working day to train and practice for acquiring the basic skills and knowledge in the field
• Starting from R1 the residents will be involved in presenting academic activities For each academic activity presented by a resident, a supervising consultant will be attached
• The residents will be involved in infectious disease and infection control rotations
  • During infectious disease rotations the microbiology resident will function as a member of the consult team by seeing, assessing, managing and following up patients
• The R3 residents will have similar laboratory responsibilities as the R 1 and R 2 residents In addition, the resident will be involved in dealing with and troubleshooting questions arising from the laboratory and clinical departments
  • The resident will start taking on junior call during the day to gain experience in dealing with questions coming from the laboratory and the
    clinical departments, interacting with infection control, calling critical results and reviewing and authorizing results
• The R5 resident will be the go to person responsible for day to day issues and questions related to the laboratory (with the supervision of one of the microbiologists)
  • o Starting in R5 the residents will cover on call during the day to gain experience in dealing with questions coming from the laboratory and the clinical departments, interacting with infection control, calling critical results and reviewing and authorizing results

• Resident will be evaluated in accordance with PGME regulations
• Timely formative assessment will be provided by rotation supervisor as deemed necessary
• The residents will be evaluated on their performance during half day and journal club presentations
• Laboratory technologists will help evaluate the residents during their bench rotations
• The resident will be evaluated at the end of each rotation by the rotation supervisor
• A resident who does not pass a rotation will be required to repeat the rotation
• The program director will meet with the residents individually every 3 months to discuss progress

• Each year of training will have a specified promotional criteria
• The promotional criteria includes different assessment methods depending on the year of training
  • Evaluations
  • Examinations ( oral, practical)
  • Research
• The final board examination includes written, practical and oral sections

Dr. Khalifa Binkhamis MBBS, M.Ed FRCPC, D(ABMM), FCCM

• Director, KSU Board in Medical Microbiology
• Associate Professor & Consultant Medical Microbiologist
• Email: kbinkhamis@ksu edu sa