NCIDQ Certificate holders who work in the area of healthcare design can now supplement this credential by becoming certified as a healthcare interior designer.

There is now an advanced, specialty certification that follows acquisition of the NCIDQ Certificate. This specialty certification is offered by the American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers (AAHID).

The vision of AAHID is to be recognized by the healthcare industry as the certification board of choice in assessing and qualifying the knowledge, skills and abilities of healthcare interior designers. Board Certified Healthcare Interior Design certificants are distinguished and qualified by education, examination and work experience to practice healthcare interior design, distinguished from other architects and interior designers.

For the past three years, NCIDQ has collaborated with AAHID and assisted them with finding an examination consultant. AAHID develops their certification examination with the assistance of Professional Credential Services, Inc.. NCIDQ's testing vendor--ACT, Inc.--administers the AAHID examination on the same date and at the same locations as the NCIDQ Examination each spring and fall.

In order to become eligible to take the AAHID examination, applicants must:

• Hold an NCIDQ Certificate.
• Have at least five years of experience in healthcare interior design.
• Submit supporting materials to AAHID.

The next administration of the AAHID examination will be September 28, 2007. The deadline to submit an application to AAHID is July 3, 2007.

For more information on the AAHID credential and examination, please visit www.aahid.org.

The interior design profession is growing, and NCIDQ is growing along with it! As you can see in the graph, applications to take the NCIDQ Examination have nearly doubled since 2000! There are now more than 21,000 Certificate holders, and 1,000 more join the ranks each year.

The Interior Design Experience Program is also growing by leaps and bounds. We receive one to three new IDEP applications every day!

Results for the Spring 2007 NCIDQ Exam will be mailed by July 6, and registration for the Fall 2008 exam will begin July 13. Visit the Dates & Deadlines Calendar for details.

Stay tuned to the QLetter for news on our new monographs being released this year!

Later this month we'll release Designs That Protect: Culturally-Sensitive Design for Long-Term Care Facilities, by DAK Kopec, Ph.D. This monograph is packed with innovative research and design ideas that every healthcare designer will enjoy. And as always, it comes with an open-book quiz that you send back to us for CE credit.

Following Kopec's monograph will be an updated ethics monograph from author Deborah Long. Several more monographs on diverse topics are in the works. There will be something for everyone!

Please Note: As of July 2, the Lighting to Protect monograph and quiz will no longer be available for purchase. Quizzes already purchased may be sent in after this date for CE credit. If you are saving your Lighting to Protect quiz to use later, we encourage you to submit it by December 31, 2007.