1. Why did you choose a career in infection prevention and control?
After MBBS, I did MD Medical Microbiology and was keenly interested in Hospital Infection Control since my post-graduation days.
2. What advice would you give someone who is interested in an infection prevention and control career?
I would tell you that it is one of the rare specialties in clinical medicine that cares the wellbeing of both patients and health care providers at a time by preventing health care associated infections.
3. What does being a CIC® mean to you?
CIC was always a dream for me to become an internationally certified Infection Preventionist right from my pg days since there was no well-defined and structured training in developing countries like India.
4. What was the best studying method for you when preparing for the initial certification examination?
APIC textbook, Lean Six sigma black belt notes, Clinical Microbiology textbook, Epidemiology
5. What advice would you give someone pursuing certification?
Develop a clinical sense in observing patients closely and watch out for the parameters like WBC counts, antibiotics given and culture of safety among nursing personnel.
6. How do you stay up-to-date on infection prevention and control practices?
I do attend International Patient safety conferences, ISQua webinars, CDC guidelines, JCM, etc.
7. Are you part of an APIC or IPAC Canada chapter? If so, would you recommend it to others?
No, I would certainly do some day.
8. How has the CIC® helped you grow professionally and in your career?
I was working as Infection Preventionist since 3 years but CIC gave me recognition for my skills and gave me newer perspectives to implement and improve healthcare quality.
9. Are there any CIC® stories that keep you up at night? This can be related to the examination or a specific patient story that stands out.
Once upon a time during my post-graduation I was collecting pus swabs from post op wounds in an orthopedic wards as a part of my research, I happened to isolate Meropenem resistant E.coli about 6 isolates from a single ward, genotypically similar yielding NDM-1 gene and I brought it to the notice of orthopedic residents, they were using Augmentin which was of no use, later I keenly observed for the source and found that it was a male nurse’s hands who was dressing all these wounds with a single dressing trolley without any proper PPE and contact precautions and later he was given training and the outbreak was controlled.