Reproducing Clinically Significant Multi-Organism Cultures to Improve Clinical Microbiology Education and Practice

Medical microbiology courses focus on clinically relevant organisms, but designing laboratory experiments that mimic clinical specimens can be challenging. Many clinical specimens produce multi-organism cultures, which are difficult to reproducibly create in the academic laboratory. With experience with only single organism cultures, students may find it challenging to transition to the clinical laboratory where they must identify pathogens and normal flora from mixed cultures. Here, we present protocols for the creation of multi-organism cultures for mock wound, stool, urine, and throat cultures with medically relevant bacteria that allow these principles to be taught in an academic laboratory prior to clinical experiences.