According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, more than 70% of the bacteria now causing hospitalacquired infections are resistant to at least one of the drugs most commonly used to treat them.¹ This rise in resistance poses a major threat to hospitalized patients due to the limited number of viable treatments and the need to use more toxic agents.² In addition, there have been few new agents active against gram-negative bacteria in the past two decades making it vitally important to make the most of existing antibiotics. Therefore, rational use of antimicrobial agents is essential in establishing a successful strategy to control and address both the clinical impact of resistant infections and the development of further resistance. Careful selection of the appropriate antimicrobial agent combined with correct dosing, duration of treatment, and route of administration are all important to the success of this strategy and need to be coupled with antimicrobial resistance surveillance. Many of the key recommendations regarding antibiotic resistance include multidisciplinary approaches between clinicians, including pharmacists who are often key leaders in the effort to control antibiotic resistance in the hospital.³ This symposium will highlight the need for clinical pharmacists to take an active leadership role within their health systems to reduce the spread of bacterial resistance and improve patient outcomes.