A country of some 17,000 islands—around 8,000 of which are inhabited—Indonesia is not only host to some of the greatest biodiversity on the planet, but also to vastly different cultures and some 700 spoken languages or dialects. This diversity poses great challenges in establishing standards and protocols for the country’s health system, including the Indonesian national clinical microbiologist residency training program. While the program is intended to standardize microbiologist competencies throughout the country, its delivery and results vary greatly.

In December 2016, ASM partnered with the Indonesia Society for Clinical Microbiology (PAMKI) to revise and standardize the curriculum framework across universities throughout the country. The project set forth a year-long process between PAMKI and ASM subject matter experts who provided expertise on the curriculum framework and teaching methodologies, as well as biosafety and biorisk management. Some of the main changes included standardization and integration of biosafety instruction into the curriculum and a shift in teaching styles to mirror practices implemented at the Mayo Clinic. This includes replacing traditional didactic lectures with reading and preparation by students before class, leaving time during class for more interactive, practical explorations of content.

After a year, the groups reconvened in Surabaya for an implementers’ workshop, where they finalized the curriculum book that PAMKI is rolling out for use in resident trainings at universities across the country. In addition to the finalization of the curriculum book, the implementers discussed ideas for continued improvements in the safety and security of clinical microbiologists across the country.