Secrets to Success: Preparing for the CIH Exam

Course Level

• All levels ranging from:
• College students and professionals just entering the field
• Current professionals working to obtain the cih
• Managers and supervisors who are certified but want to learn more about what is needed to develop their staff by having them pursue the CIH 

**Please note that this TeleWeb is not designed or intended to take the place of an extensive exam preparation course

Prerequisites

NONE

Who Will Benefit

• OEHS managers, supervisors and directors
• Industrial hygienists
• Consultants
• Students of OEHS

Presented By

• Requirements to Sit for the CIH Exam.  – Lynn O’Donnell, CIH
• Professional Development through Certification - CIH Preparation and Strategies – Dean R. Lillquist
• The Road trip to Passing the First Time – Carter B. Ficklen, III
• Industrial Hygiene Mentoring Programs – Kimberly Castillon, CIH
• The Third Time is the Charm  - Bob G Costello, CIH

Course Description

Presentation #1 - The presentation will give an overview of the educational and work experience requirements to sit for the CIH exam.  Information will also be given on the history of the CIH, testing procedures and the role delineation/task analysis in formulating the exam questions.

Presentation #2 – One milestone in professional development is obtaining Board Certification.  For industrial hygienists the most recognized professional credential is the Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) obtained through the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH).  Obtaining the CIH requires successfully preparing for and passing a comprehensive examination in relevant subject matter rubrics.  As with the industrial hygiene profession, the CIH exam is dynamic.  It is designed to reflect seminal principals as well as current trends in the profession.  So what should you know and how do you prepare yourself to take the exam?  A discussion of background, strategies and resources for successful CIH exam preparation will be presented.

Presentation #3  - Preparing for the CIH exam is an interesting experience regardless of the outcome.  Overcoming distraction, re-aligning priorities to make time for studying, and dealing with the frustration from the long hours and late nights are truly character building.  This presentation will give a humorous, informative overview of my path to passing the CIH exam on the first attempt.  Passing the exam does not require one to be an expert in every rubric area, although it does require a broad understanding of IH practice, confidence…….and perhaps a bit of luck.

Presentation #4 - Persistence does pay off.   How many of our fellow IHs are practicing all over the world have been in the same shoes?  Well educated, technically competent, and professionally engaged, but unable to obtain certification by coming up a few correct answers short.  Many IHs feel that their overall knowledge of IH peaked just prior to sitting for the exam due to all of the time studying and effort in areas outside of their normal practice.  This presentation will explain how one can learn from coming up short and turning a frustrating experience into a positive one.

Presentation #5 - This presentation will focus on mentoring opportunities and programs that can help in career development and in turn be an aid in preparing for the CIH exam.  The Academy of Industrial Hygiene has a structured mentoring program to provide advice and guidance for early career IHs as to how to acquire appropriate field experience and technical expertise to excel in the profession.  Details of the AIH mentoring program will be given and how professionals can become a part of it. There will also be information presented on the AIHA Student and Early Career Professionals Coaching Program that provides a less formal alternative to start relationships that can grow into a formal mentoring arrangement.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will be provided with tools to better able them to…
• Understand the history of the CIH Exam
• Review candidate eligibility and testing procedures 
• Prepare to perform a self-assessment
• Gather study materials, form a game plan, and concentrate on methods of focusing on areas of weaknesses
• Gain better focus prior to sitting for the exam.   
• Prepare and/or mentor peers preparing for the CIH Exam.

Presenter Bios

Lynn C. O’Donnell, CIH

Lynn C. O’Donnell, CIH, received degrees in Nursing, Industrial Hygiene and Management from the University of Virginia, University of Michigan and Aquinas College.  She worked for the Michigan Department of Public Health, Division of Occupation Health in the areas of compliance, consulting, training and education and health standards promulgation.  O’Donnell was certified by ABIH in Comprehensive

Practice in 1981 and also received the Bloomfield award from ACGIH that year.  She served as ABIH Director 1983-1989; AAIH Councilor 1986-1988; AIHA Director 1989-1992 and has been Executive Director of ABIH since 1991.

Dean R. Lillquist, Ph.D., MSPH, CIH

Dean is the Director, USDOL/OSHA Salt Lake Technical Center.  SLTC performs OSHA’s analytical analysis and sampling and analytical methods development and houses OSHA’s Health Response Team which provides technical and investigative support to the Agency.  Prior to OSHA, Dean was Associate Professor and Director of the Industrial Hygiene Graduate Program at the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Utah.  For the past ten years, Dean has been the Course Director and instructor in the Rocky Mountain Center’s Comprehensive Review of Industrial Hygiene course.  This five-day course was the first of its kind aimed at helping professionals focus and prepare for the CIH exam.  Dean obtained his Ph.D. in Environmental Health from Colorado State University where he focused on industrial hygiene and industrial toxicology.  He received his MSPH from the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health.

Carter B. Ficklen III

Carter Ficklen III is the Program Manager for Mainthia Technologies, Inc. on the Safety and Mission Assurance Contract at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.  He is the past chair of the AIHA Student and Early Career Professionals Committee and has served two terms as President of the AIHA Tidewater Local Section.  In 2007, Carter was appointed as a Trustee of the American Industrial Hygiene Foundation.

Bob Costello, CIH

Practicing IH since 1981.  Certified in Comprehensive Practice in 1991.   For the past 10 years I have been employed at W.L. Gore & Associates in the Corporate EHS team, supporting manufacturing and business operations around the world (US/UK/Gmbh/Japan/China).  Preceding that, I was the EHS manager for W.R. Grace Corporate R&D division, responsible for 3 sites, two in US and one in Japan for 10 years.  I held various IH positions at The Johns Hopkins Institutions for 3 years, and various IH positions with Maryland State government, including MOSH compliance program.  Participated in the Laboratory Safety Committee of AIHA and NSC, current member and former Chair of the AIHA Stewardship and Sustainability Committee, Former President and Directors of the Chesapeake Local Section of AIHA.    

Kimberly Castillon, CIH

Kimberly Castillon has been employed with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 13 years; as a Compliance Officer in Region VII, a Regional Technical Support specialist for Enforcement Programs in Region I (Boston) and as an Assistant Area Director for the Springfield MA Area Office.  She served on the Council of the Academy of Industrial Hygiene for three years (2004-2007) where she promoted and continued to develop the Mentoring Program.   She obtained her CIH in Comprehensive Practice in 2002.

Certification

If you submit your final exam within one month of purchasing your CD you can get 0.25 COCs, and 0.25 CEUs.

Simply download the post TeleWeb CD order form  to purchase the original TeleWeb broadcast. You can review the CD on your own or with a group or even share it with your student section, local section, and others.