Sterility and asepsis: not the most glamorous skill, but maybe the most important one you’ll master in medicine.

This course teaches the principles and practice of sterility and aseptic technique, from how infection actually works to scrubbing, gowning, and gloving for surgery. It’s paired with The Apprentice Doctor® Scrub for Surgery Simulation Kit, which includes the items you need to practise the techniques.

Introduction video

What’s inside the course

1. Background

The big picture first: a short history of antisepsis, an overview of medical microbiology, how infection works, highly infectious diseases, and the lymphatic system.

2. Sterility, asepsis, and safety

The core concepts and where they differ: safety, sterility, asepsis, and barrier techniques.

3. The operating room

How a theatre runs: preparing the OR, scrubbing, gowning and gloving for surgery, preparing the patient, and what happens when infection control slips.

4. Practical projects

The hands-on work:

• Hand hygiene with soap and water, and with alcohol rub
• Donning and safely removing clean gloves
• Changing into operating room attire
• Surgical hand preparation, gowning, and three methods of donning sterile gloves
• Doffing surgical PPE, and palpating the lymph nodes
• Optional: grow bacteria and reveal it on your hands with glow-gel

5. Putting it together

Clinical case studies, a look at career options, and a final assessment.

Who should enroll

Vital for every future medical professional, at any stage. Also for qualified professionals who want to refresh their knowledge and technique.

Setting

Online and self-paced.

Duration

About 20 hours, including the labs and practical projects.

We recommend you don’t rush it. Keep to about three hours a day so each topic has time to settle. With full-time study you could finish in under a week, but spacing it out works better for what you actually remember. Before each session, take a few minutes to review the previous day’s work.

Requirements and instructions

– Register with Apprentice Doctor Academy

– Enroll in the course

– Get the Simulation Kit (optional, but you’ll need it to complete the practical projects and practice the techniques you learn)

Certified credits

Counts as the equivalent of twenty shadowing hours.

One half academic credit per 80 hours of courses taken. Transcript available upon request.

Warnings

– The course and kit are for classroom instruction and training only, not for any clinical use or application.

– Do not use any item from the kit on a real human or animal patient.

– The course suits students across healthcare and medical fields. Students aged 15 to 17 need adult supervision and guidance. It is not suitable for children under 15.

– The kit contains latex gloves unless you specifically ordered non-latex. It is not suitable for anyone with a latex allergy.

– The kit contains items that can be a choking hazard. Keep it out of reach of toddlers and babies.

Click here to order your Apprentice Doctor® Scrub for Surgery Simulation Kit