BACKGROUND Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) challenge modern medicine. Considering their high prevalence in Iran, we aimed to provide knowledge on the subject, and to teach about the importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) to a broad audience of pre-graduate healthcare professionals, focusing on education as the cornerstone of IPC. MAIN BODY We invited Iranian medical students to present ideas on "how to reduce HAIs." Projects were eligible if being original and addressing the call. Accepted projects were quality assessed using a scoring system. Forty-nine projects were submitted, of which 37 met the inclusion criteria. They had a mean score of 69.4 ± 18.3 out of the maximum possible score of 115. Four reviewers assessed the 37 projects for clinical applicability, impact on patient safety, and innovation, and selected the best 12 to compete at the 2nd International Congress on Prevention Strategies for Healthcare-associated Infections, Mashhad, Iran, 2018. The competition took place in three rounds. The selected teams presented their projects in the first round and debated one by one in a knockout manner, while the jury reviewed their scientific content and presentation skills. In the second round, the top 5 projects competed for reaching the final stage, in which the teams presented their ideas in front of a panel of international IPC experts to determine the first three ranks. At the end of the contest, the participants gained valuable criticisms on how to improve their ideas. Moreover, by its motivating atmosphere, the contest created an excellent opportunity to promote IPC in medical schools. CONCLUSIONS Using innovation contests in pre-graduates is an innovative education strategy. It sensitizes medical students to the challenges of IPC and antimicrobial resistance and drives them to think about solutions. By presenting and defending their innovations, they deepen their understanding on the topic and generate knowledge transfer in both ways, from students to teachers and vice versa.

中文翻译：

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“感染预防和控制理念挑战”竞赛：医学教育和解决问题的崭新视角。

背景技术与医疗保健相关的感染（HAI）挑战了现代医学。考虑到他们在伊朗的患病率很高，我们旨在向广大研究生医学专业人士传播有关这一主题的知识，并向他们传授感染预防和控制（IPC）的重要性，重点是将教育作为IPC的基石。主体我们邀请伊朗医学生就“如何减少HAIs”提出想法。如果项目是原创的并且可以解决该电话问题，则符合条件。接受的项目使用评分系统进行质量评估。提交了49个项目，其中37个符合纳入标准。他们的平均分数为69.4±18.3（满分为115）。四名评论者评估了这37个项目的临床适用性，对患者安全性的影响以及创新能力，并于2018年在伊朗马什哈德举行的第二届国际医疗保健相关感染预防策略国际大会上选出了最佳12名。竞赛分三轮进行。入选的团队在第一轮中展示了他们的项目，并以淘汰赛的形式逐一辩论，而评审团则审查了他们的科学内容和表达技巧。在第二轮中，排名前5的项目竞争进入最后阶段，在该阶段中，团队在国际IPC专家小组的面前展示了他们的想法，以确定前三名。比赛结束时，参与者就如何改善自己的想法获得了宝贵的批评。此外，凭借其激励气氛，本次比赛为在医学院校推广IPC提供了极好的机会。结论在研究生中使用创新竞赛是一种创新的教育策略。它使医学生对IPC和抗菌素耐药性的挑战敏感，并促使他们思考解决方案。通过展示和捍卫自己的创新，他们加深了对这一主题的理解，并产生了从学生到老师，反之亦然的两种知识转移。