At the November 2022 strategic planning session, the CBIC board of directors outlined goals and objectives for a new three-year plan. One of the objectives was to expand accessibility to certification for professionals responsible for infection prevention across settings. This includes alignment of certification opportunities along career path progression from novice to mid-career to expert.
The CIC examination measures core competencies for the practice of infection prevention and control, but based on our practice analysis of current IP roles, it has less focus on competencies in the outer circle of the APIC Competency Model such as research, leadership, professional stewardship, IPC operations, etc. For that reason, CBIC has created a task force to develop a certification process to recognize professional expertise in infection prevention and control, called “Advanced Leadership Certification in Infection Prevention and Control”, AD-CIP. As with the CIC examination process, the APIC Competency Model again serves as the framework for this certification but will focus more on the outer circle of future- oriented competencies.
To learn more, please visit the APIC website.
The AD-CIP portfolio is an assessment of knowledge, skills, and abilities expected of individuals who demonstrate professional expertise working in the field of infection prevention and control across all competency domains: Leadership, professional Stewardship, Research, IPC Operations, Quality Improvement, and IPC informatics. The FAPIC designation recognizes exemplary APIC members with status of FAPIC. According to APIC, “the fellow of APIC status is a distinction of honor for infection preventionists who are not only advanced practitioners of infection prevention practice but also leaders within the field.” Where fellowship denotes an honor, certification offers a level of attestation to a level of achievement.
CBIC recognizes and supports the value and commitment associated with FAPIC status. The AD-CIP is not designed to compete with or deflect from the importance and value of the FAPIC. The AD-CIP will be designed to assess and verify an individual's professional leadership accomplishments through a standardized credential. Additionally, documentation of the FAPIC status will be a highly recommended guideline that facilitates success in obtaining the AD-CIP certification. The practice analysis that we will conduct for developing the AD-CIP process will be a valuable tool for understanding the intricacies of professional expertise within IPC, and CBIC will provide ongoing updates as planning continues.
The anticipated release date is January 2025. CBIC will continue to share information as it becomes available.