In June, Eric Howell, MD, SFHM, SHM’s senior physician advisor, attended a White House forum on antibiotic resistance. That day, SHM committed to empowering hospitalists to fight antibiotic resistance through better prescribing behaviors.

In a blog post on The Hospital Leader, Dr. Howell wrote, “This isn’t limited to a single hospital. There are now more than 44,000 hospitalists nationwide and every one of us plays an important role in antibiotic stewardship. The bedside is the front line of this fight against antibiotic resistance.”

Now, hospitalists everywhere can join Dr. Howell at the front line of protecting patients from the many harms of overprescribing antibiotics, with SHM’s new

“Fight the Resistance” campaign.

At the heart of the campaign are three posters intended to remind all hospital-based staff about the need for antibiotic stewardship. The posters are available for download now, and a large-format version of one of the posters is included in the November issue of The Hospitalist.

SHM encourages hospitalists to post these posters in their hospitals as a reminder to use antibiotics only when necessary—and for only as long as necessary.

SHM will be hosting a social media-driven contest encouraging hospitalists to share pictures of the posters on the wall in their hospital, using the #FightTheResistance hashtag.

For more information, visit www.fighttheresistance.org.