Why this course

A well-run IPC programme can be shown in one file. The file names the hospital's own high-risk areas and the written guidance for each of them. It carries the surveillance figures and how they were checked, the committee's open actions with their owners, and the date of the last review.

Every NABH hospital must name an IPC officer. The NCDC guideline says this is usually a clinical microbiologist, a clinical epidemiologist or an infectious disease physician, and many of us take it on alongside a full clinical or laboratory load. We were trained in our own speciality. Few of us were trained to run a programme: a committee that closes its actions, surveillance numbers that hold up, a budget request that management approves, and the first 48 hours of an outbreak.

When we wrote our Infection Control Nurse course in 2020, it taught the nurse what to do on the ward. This certificate programme is for the doctor who leads that nurse and answers for the whole programme.

Who this course is for

  1. Infection prevention and control officers who are named in the NABH file and want to run the programme with confidence.
  2. Clinical microbiologists who are strong in the laboratory and are now moving into IPC leadership, committees and ward work.
  3. IPC committee chairpersons, such as senior clinicians and medical superintendents, who want a committee that decides, tracks and closes its actions.

What you will be able to do

  1. Assess your hospital's IPC programme against the WHO core components, the NCDC 2020 national guidelines and the NABH 6th Edition IPC chapter, and list the gaps in order of priority.
  2. Run an IPC committee with terms of reference, an agenda built on data and an action tracker in which every action has an owner and a date.
  3. Write a costed budget request for an IPC need that management can approve.
  4. Set up surveillance for CAUTI, VAP, CLABSI and surgical site infection, with fixed definitions, checked data and feedback to the units.
  5. Recognise a cluster early and lead the first 48 hours of an outbreak response.
  6. Audit bundle compliance by watching care at the bedside, and act when it differs from the figure on the form.
  7. Run IPC and antimicrobial stewardship together, using a unit antibiogram and a prescribing audit.
  8. Write the annual IPC review and plan, and support each part of the programme with evidence.

Course curriculum

    1. What you will learn

    2. Welcome

    3. How each week runs

    4. The data rule

    5. Case-based questions – where you start

    6. Pre-read for Module 1

    7. Pre-reading to download for Module 1

    1. Live session and recording

    2. Practice task – IPCAF score sheet and high-risk activity register

    3. Pre-read for Module 2

    1. Live session and recording

    2. Practice task – Committee pack

    3. Pre-read for Module 3

    1. Live session and recording

    2. Practice task – Surveillance workbook

    3. Pre-read for Module 4

    1. Live session and recording

    2. Practice task – Bundle observation audit

    3. Pre-read for Module 5

    1. Live session and recording

    2. Practice task – Prescribing audit and unit antibiogram

    3. Pre-read for Module 6

About this course

  • Free
  • 25 lessons
  • 0 hours of video content

How the course runs

The programme runs for six weeks, with one module each week. Each module needs about four hours of your time.

  1. Before the session, you read a short pre-read and the full session slides. These open 7 days before the live session and take about 30 minutes.
  2. The live session runs for 90 minutes on Zoom, every Wednesday at 2:30 pm IST. It opens with a short poll, teaches the module with a worked example and closes with your questions.
  3. After the session, you do a practice task in your own hospital. It takes about two hours.
  4. You complete the task as a document and upload it through the week's assignment before the next session. Faculty review it against a simple rubric.

The six documents together make one IPC programme file: the programme, the committee pack, the surveillance workbook, the bundle audit, the stewardship audit and the annual plan.

If you cannot use your hospital's data, you can build every document on the SkillsforMed worked hospital, which we provide. Recordings are available to the cohort if you miss a session.

Faculty

Dr Parivalavan Rajavelu (Dr Pari)
Surgeon with more than 30 years of clinical practice, MS, DNB, FRCS (Edinburgh). Founder of SkillsforMed and author of the SkillsforMed Infection Control Nurse course. He leads the modules on the programme, the committee, surgical site infection, the annual plan and the assessment.

Dr Jyothsna Venkatesh
Clinical microbiologist working in infection control and antimicrobial stewardship. Co-director of the SkillsforMed Infection Control Nurse course and course director of the SkillsforMed Antimicrobial Stewardship Masterclass. She leads the modules on surveillance definitions and on antimicrobial stewardship.

Certificate

You receive a SkillsforMed certificate of completion when you attend at least five of the six live sessions (or watch the recording of a session you missed), and when all six assignment documents are accepted.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need access to my hospital's data?
No. If you cannot use your hospital's data, you can build every document on the SkillsforMed worked hospital.

Will any patient information leave my hospital?
No. Every document carries facility-level facts only. Patient names, patient numbers and staff names must not appear in anything you upload.

What if I miss a live session?
Watch the recording and submit that module's assignment. You can miss one session and still complete the course.

How much time does this course need?
About four hours a week for six weeks: 30 minutes of reading, a 90-minute live session and about two hours of practice in your hospital.

Is this course useful for an infection control nurse?
This course is written for the doctor who leads the IPC programme. For infection control nurses, the SkillsforMed Infection Control Nurse course is the right starting point.

Join the first cohort

Starts Wednesday 4 November 2026 · Live every Wednesday at 2:30 pm IST · Six weeks · ₹11,999

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