Recertification Guidelines for Certified IRB Professionals (CIP)

Effective January 1, 2012

 To maintain certification as an IRB professional, a CIP must recertify every three (3) years from the time of most recent certification. Recertification may always be achieved by re-taking and passing the CIP examination.  However, CIPs also have the option to recertify by completing a continuing education (CE) requirement twice before being required to recertify by examination. Continuing education may only be used as a basis for recertification twice in a nine-year period.

 For example: If the CIP’s initial certification was in 2006, the CIP may complete the continuing education requirements  or take and pass the certification examination prior to the expiration date in 2009.  A second recertification by continuing education would also be permitted prior to the expiration date in 2012. After two recertifications by continuing education, the CIP must re-take, and pass the certification examination prior to the expiration date in 2015 to maintain the credential.

 Recertification must be accomplished prior to the certification expiration to avoid a lapse in certification.  If there is a lapse in certification of greater than six months, the individual must take the examination to renew certification and cannot recertify by continuing education. 

 A person who holds certification and takes the examination but does not pass, will lose the certification. This is effective on the date that the notification of the results from the examination are received. Those who are eligible to recertify by continuing education, but choose to take the examination instead and do not pass may not subsequently use continuing education to recertify. That is, the examination must be passed before the credential is reissued.

 A person who is denied recertification by continuing education due to improper or incomplete documentation may appeal that decision by writing to the CCIP (care of PTC). The appeal must be postmarked no later than 30 days from the postmark date of the original letter sent from PTC or CCIP. The letter must clearly describe the reasons the candidate believes that recertification was improperly denied and include all documentation available to support such claim.  The appeal will be considered by CCIP and written notice of the final decision will be provided to the candidate.

Expiration of Certification

Use the following table to determine when certification expires through  passing the examination.  

Date of Examination              Certification Expires
January through June                June 30 three years later
July through December              December 31 three years later

Example: If an individual passed the certification examination on March 3, 2009, certification expires on June 30, 2012.

For those recertifying by CE, the deadline for your recertification application is the first day of the month when your certification expires. The deadline for applying for the exam is listed on the CIP handbook, which is updated yearly.

Reminder for Recertification

CIPs are responsible for maintaining their certification.  However, a reminder including a recertification application and guidelines will be sent to the address on file with PTC as follows:

Reminders will be sent on or about December 1 for
certifications expiring on June 30

Reminders will be sent on or about July 1 for
certifications expiring on December 31

You must maintain a current certification if you wish to continue using the CIP credential after your name.

Recertification through Continuing Education

If using continuing education for recertification, the credits must be earned after the date the examination was passed.

Acceptable Continuing Education Activities

For recertification by continuing education, CIPs must complete 30 documented hours of continuing education in topics within the CIP Body of Knowledge (Content Outline) which can be found in the CIP Handbook.  The topics must also be beyond initial, basic or fundamental level education programs (e.g., no IRB 101 or similar topics).

At least 15 of the 30 hours must carry credits issued by a recognized accrediting body, e.g., nursing associations, the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education (ACPE), Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and other professional organizations or universities.  OHRP sponsored programs on topics beyond basic initial education will be accepted towards fulfillment of the 15 hours required to carry CE credits issued by a recognized accrediting body regardless of whether those credits have actually been issued.   

Acceptable continuing education activities may include, but are not limited to:

• Programs sponsored by the Common Rule signatories including
  • Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP),
  • the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
  • Office of Research Integrity (ORI),
  • Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA),
  • Department of Energy (DOE),
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• Programs sponsored by associations including
  • Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R),
  • National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA),
  • Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP),
  • Society of Research Administrators (SRA),
  • Society of Clinical Research Associates  (SoCRA),
  • Association for Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRP),
• Short courses or intensive courses, such as those sponsored by Bioethics centers, institutes, or universities.
• Local and regional seminars, conferences or presentations.
• Formal college courses such as bioethics, responsible conduct of research, research design, grant design, research methodology, quantitative and qualitative research methods, field research techniques, and statistics.  Each three-credit course or one semester course is equivalent to 10 continuing education hours.  Courses must be successfully completed.
• Web-based courses that are designed for continuing education or have assigned continuing education hours, other than the programs used for initial training.
• Self-study programs including but not limited to books or journals having documented quizzes, tests, and/or exercises.  Note: Functioning Note: Functioning as a pre-publication reviewer of journal articles of any type, regardless of whether Continuing Education Credits are issued for the activity, is not considered self-study in this context and, as such, does not qualify for CIP continuing education.

NOT Acceptable continuing education activitiess

• Topics that are outside the CIP Body of Knowledge
• Education that is at an initial, basic or fundamental level.
• Programs that an individual develops and/or instructs DO NOT count towards that individual’s continuing education. An individual who organizes and then attends training presented by others may count that training towards their continuing education.

DOCUMENTATION

Individuals are responsible for maintaining the source documentation that supports their claim of continuing education. In order to be acceptable for credit all continuing education documentation must include, at a minimum:

If the continuing education is met through a college course, the formal transcript must be available for verification.

For CE events where accredited credits are being claimed, it is the responsibility of the applicant to verify that the events are eligible for accredited CE hours. Individuals should not assume that a CE event continues to carry accredited CE hours just because it was eligible for accredited CE hours in the past.

Please note that individuals are responsible for retaining source documentation (certificates, letters of attendance) for at least three (3) years following recertification by continuing education.  Individuals should be prepared to submit copies of source material, when requested, for auditing and continuing quality improvement purposes.

Audits of recertification by continuing education may be conducted for verification and continuous quality improvement purposes by the CCIP.  If an audit reveals insufficient credits, denial of certification is possible.

Fees: The fee for either type of recertification is: 

PRIM&R members…$335.00 (Proof of PRIM&R membership must be sent with your application).

Non-PRIM&R members…$435.00

Application Procedure

Prior to the expiration of certification submit the appropriate recertification application form and fees to:

CIP Recertification
Professional Testing Corporation
1350 Broadway, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10018

Phone: 212-356-0660
Fax: 212-356-0678