Fellowship in Infection Prevention & Control Leadership
Leading IPC programs, epidemiology, and outbreak management.
📘Program Overview
A fellowship for IPC program leaders combining infection prevention and control, central sterilization and disinfection, and healthcare surveying.
Rather than a single narrow qualification, this fellowship unites 3 standardized, examination-aligned AIMSM certifications into one coherent professional pathway spanning Clinical Excellence & Patient Care, Operations, Governance & Management. It is designed to develop complete, job-ready professionals who hold recognized depth across a whole field of practice.
Candidates complete each component certification and its official examination, and — on completing the full pathway — are awarded a combined fellowship certificate from AIMSM in addition to every individual certificate, providing both breadth of coverage and independently verifiable proof of each competency.
⭐Why Choose This Fellowship
- One coherent credential: 3 complementary certifications assembled into a single, recognized fellowship rather than a scattered set of unrelated courses.
- Genuine depth: every module is a full certification with its own proctored examination — not an introductory overview — so the qualification reflects real, verified capability.
- Double recognition: candidates earn each individual certificate plus the combined fellowship certificate, maximizing professional and CV value.
- Examination-verified quality: outcomes are confirmed by formal assessment, aligned to international professional standards.
- Flexible and accessible: studied and examined fully online, self-paced, with instant digital certificates and public verification.
- Strong value: enrolment is a single bundle at a substantial saving over taking the certifications individually.
👥Who Should Enrol
- Healthcare professionals seeking a comprehensive, multi-competency credential rather than a single certificate.
- Infection prevention and control practitioners
- Nurses, physicians, and allied health professionals
- Quality and patient safety teams
- Sterilization and environmental services staff
- Public health and epidemiology professionals
- Central sterile supply department (CSSD) technicians and supervisors
- Operating room and procedural support staff
- Infection prevention and quality professionals
- Biomedical and instrument-management staff
- Professionals seeking formal sterile-processing credentials
- Accreditation and survey coordinators
- Quality and patient-safety professionals
- Training partners, universities and institutions building structured, credentialed development tracks for their staff or students.
✅Program Objectives
- Master the combined body of knowledge and skills across all 3 component certifications as one integrated discipline.
- Establish and lead a structured infection prevention program.
- Apply principles of epidemiology and surveillance to detect and control infections.
- Implement standard and transmission-based precautions consistently.
- Use statistical and quality tools to monitor infection-prevention performance.
- Meet accreditation and regulatory requirements for infection control.
- Develop proficiency in medical terminology relevant to central sterilization and disinfection.
- Apply principles of microbiology, infection prevention, and regulatory standards.
- Perform cleaning, decontamination, and disinfection to required levels.
- Manage, assemble, and package complex surgical instruments to maintain sterility.
- Operate high- and low-temperature sterilization processes effectively.
- Implement quality assurance, monitoring, record-keeping, and inventory control.
- Differentiate certification, licensure, and accreditation.
- Prepare the organization for an accreditation survey.
- Apply tracer methodology (clinical, facility, and system).
- Set standards and develop indicators for readiness.
- Lead effective post-survey follow-up and corrective action.
- Integrate and apply these competencies to real healthcare settings in a coordinated, whole-of-field manner.
🏆Learning Outcomes
- Hold 3 individual, verifiable AIMSM certificates plus a combined Fellowship certificate.
- Conduct surveillance and outbreak investigations.
- Apply control charts and risk-adjusted comparisons to infection data.
- Implement hand hygiene, aseptic technique, and isolation precautions.
- Lead prevention bundles for device- and procedure-associated infections.
- Promote a sustainable culture of safety around infection prevention.
- Maintain sterility of instruments from point of use through storage and transport.
- Monitor sterilization processes and maintain accurate records.
- Implement quality-assurance practices and continuous improvement.
- Identify and mitigate safety risks within the central-service department.
- Leverage technology for tracking, documentation, and process improvement.
- Plan and conduct a mock survey.
- Coordinate leadership commitment and team readiness.
- Navigate JCI and national accreditation standards.
- Apply performance-measurement and improvement models.
- Manage surveyor interactions ethically and effectively.
- Present employers, regulators and accreditors with examination-verified proof of both depth and breadth.
📚 Fellowship Curriculum
You enrol once for the whole programme — the individual certifications are not purchased separately. On completion you receive every individual certificate plus a combined fellowship certificate. Each module below is a complete AIMSM certification with its own examination.
Module 1: Certified Infection Control and Prevention (CICP)
The Certified Infection Control and Prevention (CICP) program equips healthcare professionals with the knowledge and competencies required to design, implement, and sustain effective infection prevention programs that protect patients, staff, and visitors.
The program raises awareness of gaps in infection-control performance metrics among frontline staff, builds an understanding of how surveillance data are collected to establish clinical credibility, and clarifies each professional's role in preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
Through structured competencies aligned with a culture of safety, participants develop clear goals and objectives for HAI prevention by following identified safe practices.
Key objectives
- Establish and lead a structured infection prevention program.
- Apply principles of epidemiology and surveillance to detect and control infections.
- Implement standard and transmission-based precautions consistently.
- Use statistical and quality tools to monitor infection-prevention performance.
- Meet accreditation and regulatory requirements for infection control.
Topics covered
- Module 1: Infection Prevention Programs & Competency
- Overview of infection prevention programs
- Competency and certification of the infection preventionist
- Education and training
- Accrediting and regulatory agencies
- Behavioral interventions
- Healthcare informatics and information technology
- Module 2: Epidemiology, Surveillance & Patient Safety
- General principles of epidemiology
- Surveillance methods
- Outbreak investigations
- Use of statistics in infection prevention
- Process control charts and risk-adjusted comparisons
- Quality concepts, performance measures, and patient safety
- Module 3: Microbiology & Transmission Risk
- Risk factors for transmission
- Microbial pathogenicity and host response
- The immunocompromised host
- Microbiology basics
- Antimicrobials and resistance
- Module 4: Basic Principles of Infection Prevention
- Hand hygiene
- Standard precautions
- Isolation (transmission-based) precautions
- Aseptic technique
- Cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization
- Reprocessing of single-use devices
- Module 5: Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections
- Urinary tract infections
- Intravascular device infections
- Infections in indwelling medical devices
- Pneumonia
- Surgical site infections
Module 2: Certified Professional in Central Sterilization and Disinfection (CPCSD)
The Certified Professional in Central Sterilization and Disinfection (CPCSD) program equips healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to excel in central sterilization and disinfection.
The curriculum covers the topics essential for maintaining high standards of infection control and patient safety, including medical terminology, anatomy, microbiology, regulations, infection prevention, cleaning and decontamination, disinfection, surgical instrumentation, and sterilization techniques.
Through a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical application, participants are prepared to effectively manage sterilization and disinfection processes and to maintain a safe, sterile environment in healthcare facilities.
Key objectives
- Develop proficiency in medical terminology relevant to central sterilization and disinfection.
- Apply principles of microbiology, infection prevention, and regulatory standards.
- Perform cleaning, decontamination, and disinfection to required levels.
- Manage, assemble, and package complex surgical instruments to maintain sterility.
- Operate high- and low-temperature sterilization processes effectively.
- Implement quality assurance, monitoring, record-keeping, and inventory control.
Topics covered
- Module 1: Foundations: Terminology, Anatomy & Microbiology
- Medical terminology for central service
- Basic anatomy relevant to central-service practices
- Microbiology and common healthcare microorganisms
- Infection-control implications
- Module 2: Regulations, Standards & Infection Prevention
- National and international regulations
- Standards for sterilization and disinfection
- Principles of infection prevention
- Strategies to reduce healthcare-associated infections
- Module 3: Cleaning, Decontamination & Disinfection
- Cleaning techniques and decontamination processes
- Levels of disinfection
- Methods and applications
- Module 4: Surgical Instrumentation
- Identification of surgical instruments
- Proper handling and care
- Managing complex instruments and ensuring function
- Assembly, packaging, and point-of-use processing
- Module 5: Sterilization Techniques
- High-temperature sterilization methods and equipment
- Low-temperature sterilization for heat-sensitive items
- Equipment operation and maintenance
- Module 6: Sterile Storage, Monitoring & Quality Assurance
- Principles of sterile storage and transport
- Monitoring and record-keeping
- Quality assurance and continuous improvement
- Module 7: Operations, Technology & Safety
- Inventory management within the central-service department
- Supporting ancillary departments
- Role of technology in central service
- Safety and risk management
Module 3: Certified Professional Healthcare Surveyor (CPHS)
The Certified Professional Healthcare Surveyor (CPHS) program is a trusted resource for both new and experienced accreditation professionals, providing insider guidance on how to prepare for, undergo, and respond to a hospital survey.
Beyond the mechanics, the program explains the context of the accreditation process — the 'why' as well as the 'how' — and offers practical tools to prepare the organization, methods to keep operations running smoothly during the survey, and advice on post-survey follow-up.
Participants gain chapter-by-chapter readiness tips, an understanding of tracer methodology, and clarity on how the next Joint Commission visit may differ from the last, along with sample documents and overviews of problematic survey components.
Key objectives
- Differentiate certification, licensure, and accreditation.
- Prepare the organization for an accreditation survey.
- Apply tracer methodology (clinical, facility, and system).
- Set standards and develop indicators for readiness.
- Lead effective post-survey follow-up and corrective action.
Topics covered
- Module 1: Accreditation Fundamentals
- Certification, licensure, and accreditation
- Accreditation bodies of healthcare organizations
- Ethics of healthcare accreditation
- Module 2: Standards, Measurement & Improvement
- Performance-measurement tools
- Performance Improvement (PI) models
- Setting standards and developing indicators
- Module 3: Survey Preparation
- Preparing for the accreditation survey
- Leadership and commitment to accreditation
- Accreditation policies and procedures (overview)
- Effective team building
- Module 4: Tracer Methodology & Standards
- Tracer methodology (clinical, facility, system)
- JCI accreditation standards (overview)
- National accreditation standards (overview)
- Module 5: Conducting & Following Up the Survey
- Mock survey
- Surveyor roles and responsibilities
- Managing problematic survey components
- Post-survey follow-up and corrective action
📝Assessment & Certification
- Each of the 3 component certifications is assessed by its own official, proctored online examination.
- An individual certificate is issued for every examination passed, each with a unique number that can be verified publicly on the AIMSM website.
- When all 3 component examinations are passed, the combined fellowship certificate is issued automatically — no separate final examination is required.
- Passing standards and question banks are aligned with international professional standards.
🏥Organizational Impact
- Lower rates of healthcare-associated infections
- Stronger surveillance and early outbreak detection
- Improved compliance with precautions and bundles
- Greater accreditation and audit readiness
- Reduced surgical and device-related infections
- Consistent, standardized sterile-processing practice
- Improved instrument availability and inventory control
- Stronger accreditation and audit readiness
- Higher survey readiness and compliance
- Smoother survey execution
- Faster, more effective corrective action
- Sustained accreditation status
⏱Duration & Study Format
- Self-paced: candidates progress through the component certifications in the order and at the speed that suit them.
- Typical completion ranges from a few months to a year, depending on the candidate's pace and prior experience.
- Enrolment provides continuous access to sit each component examination.
🖥Delivery
- 100% online — study and examinations are completed remotely.
- Instant, secure digital certificates upon passing, with permanent public verification.
- One-time bundle enrolment covering the entire programme; components are not purchased separately.
📈Career Pathway
- Advanced, specialist and leadership roles requiring breadth across Certified Infection Control and Prevention and Certified Professional in Central Sterilization and Disinfection and related domains.
- Infection Preventionist
- Infection Control Officer
- Quality & Safety Specialist
- Epidemiology Support Officer
- CSSD Technician / Senior Technician
- Sterile Processing Supervisor
- Infection Prevention Support Officer
- Instrument Management Specialist
- Accreditation Coordinator
- Survey Readiness Officer
- Quality & Standards Specialist
- Compliance Lead
- Consulting, advisory and quality-improvement roles across healthcare organizations.
🛡Recognition & Verification
- Issued by the American Institute for Medical Sciences and Management (AIMSM) under its U.S. regulatory framework.
- Every certificate — individual and combined — carries a unique number and a QR code for instant, independent public verification.
- Content and assessment are aligned with recognized international professional standards.
Upon successful completion of all 3 component examinations, candidates are awarded the Fellowship in Infection Prevention & Control Leadership — a combined Fellowship certificate issued by the American Institute for Medical Sciences and Management — in addition to each of the 3 individual certifications earned along the way.
Total fellowship fee — one payment
$1485$891
Save $594 (40% off) versus the certifications individually
One payment covers all 3 certifications plus the combined fellowship certificate.