CIPS Examination - World Institute of Pain

Certified Interventional Pain Sonologist (CIPS) Examinations

Thank you for your interest in our CIPS Examination! If you have not done so already, please review the CIPS Exam Information bulletin, available here. This document contains comprehensive information about the exam.

For 2025, we are still finalizing the exact dates for most of the meetings, but the general timing of the events below should be accurate (all exam dates would be preceded by workshops):

NOTE: The CIPS Examination in Taipei, Taiwan on 19 January 2025 is starting to get full. We are still accepting applications, but we cannot guarantee spaces in the exam for applications submitted after 29 October 2024.

19 January 2025 – Taipei, Taiwan
16 March 2025 – Orlando, FL, USA
June 2025 – Campinas, Brazil
28 August 2025 – Budapest, Hungary
19 October 2025 – Istanbul, Turkey

If you wish to apply for the examination, you may do so using the online application button. Once we confirm examination dates/locations we will contact you about final scheduling at a specific examination site. Please note that you must be logged in to the WIP website as an Associate Member in order to access the application.

If you are not already a WIP member, your first year’s membership will be included with the payment of your examination fee. Please submit the form at https://www.worldinstituteofpain.org/join/, and then e-mail [email protected] to be given access to the online application system.

Online Application

Bulletin

Study Aids

Pain Practice Journal

Ultrasound for Interventional Pain Management- An Illustrated Procedural Guide Editors: Peng, P., Finlayson, R., Lee, S.H., Bhatia, A. (Eds.) – Springer 2020

Sonographic Peripheral Nerve Topography – A Landmark-based Algorithm Editors: Gruber, Hannes, Loizides, Alexander, Moriggl, Bernhard (Eds.) – Springer 2019

Atlas of Sonoanatomy for Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Eds. Manoj K. Karmakar, et al. McGraw Hill, 2018,

Silvestri, Enzo & Martino, Fabio & Puntillo, Filomena. Ultrasound-Guided Peripheral Nerve Blocks. Springer 2018

Basics of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound James M Daniels, William W. Dexter; Springer 2013

Regional Nerve Blocks in Anesthesia and Pain Therapy Danilo Jankovic, Philip Peng, Springer 2015

Atlas of Peripheral Nerve Ultrasound With Anatomic and MRI Correlation Editors: Peer, Siegfried, Gruber, Hannes (Eds.) – Springer 2013

Peng PWH, Shankar H. Ultrasound-Guided Interventional Procedures in Pain Medicine. RAPM 39;5; 2014; 368-380

Ultrasound- Guided Interventional Procedures in Pain Medicine – Series of articles Published in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine 2009-2016

Web Sites:
Anatomy Illustrations (Netters) – http://www.netterimages.com/
Peripheral Regional Anesthesia – http://www.nerveblocks.net/
NY School of Regional Anesthesia – http://www.nysora.com/
Ultrasound for Regional Anesthesia – http://www.usra.ca/
Ultrasound Guided Regional Anesthesia – http://neuraxiom.com/
LipidRescue – http://www.lipidrescue.org/

WIP Associate members have full access to the WIP media library, including video study aids. Please log in to your account or sign up for a WIP membership.

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FIPP Testimonials

Philippe Mavrocordatos MD, FIPP WIP Honorary Secretary Lausanne, Switzerland

MD, FIPP

Lausanne, Switzerland

Dear Friends,

I was recently asked what I would say to someone who was considering taking the Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice (FIPP)® Examination. When I took my FIPP exam in 2007, I already had 10 years of interventional pain practice, excellent training, and felt quite confident in my daily routine. By chance, I met some colleagues who suggested me to take the FIPP exam. I did not feel I really needed it, but found the idea interesting. Well, I didn’t know how much this exam would change my professional life.

Locally, my daily practice improved significantly. The FIPP certification made me feel more confident, I was up to date with my readings and also with my techniques. Interestingly, it also had an important impact on my referrals, as local physicians knew they had a real specialist to talk to and not just another anesthesiologist doing pain.

Nationally, it helped me build up our interventional pain society, and I based our post-graduate education on clear and validated criteria to set up and develop the pain specialty. I also knew I could count on the support of my FIPP peers for questions and exchanges.

Internationally, it was probably for me the biggest surprise. I got invited to teach, and to examine colleagues who now are close friends, people with whom I have frequent exchanges. We have common projects and learn from each other.

For me, the FIPP exam and the WIP organization in general changed my understanding of pain and made me a part of a worldwide network; I now feel part of this professional family!

I hope these words will encourage you to study for and take the Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice (FIPP)® Examination in the near future. It changed my life, and will change yours as well!

Cheers,

philippe

MD, MBA, FIPP
WIP President
New Jersey, USA

Dear Friends,

I urge those of you, sitting on the sidelines, thinking about the exam, to consider challenging yourself and “lean in” and take the exam. Both the Fellow of Interventional Pain Practice (FIPP)® and Certified Interventional Pain Sonologist (CIPS) examinations are rigorous exams, that test your knowledge, and test your skill set in interventional pain. FIPP demonstrates competency in interventional pain, while CIPS demonstrates competency in the use of ultrasound in pain management. In both exams there is a written component, oral component and cadaver component of the exam, all weighted to test your skill as an interventional pain physician.

So why take the exam? There are so many reasons to become certified by the World Institute of Pain. A FIPP/CIPS Certification means something. These examinations demonstrate your skills as an interventional pain physician. You will know that you are offering the latest and safest care for patients with interventional pain. Your colleagues will know that you have passed the most rigorous examination process in pain management today. Most countries allow you to market to your community that you have passed this rigorous examination, that you have met the criteria an international group has established for excellence in interventional pain, and that you are now a full fledged FIPP/CIPS. You can join a community of like-minded professionals, and share ideas and approaches to problems facing patients with pain. In some countries FIPP is required for insurance approval for procedures. For those of you who want to teach, having the FIPP will be a tremendous asset for you in your careers. In addition we need qualified doctors in every region of the world. You can become one of these leaders.

I urge you to lean in, and make yourself the best physician you can be. Take the exam, and join the WIP as a leader in the field. I look forward to seeing you in Budapest (1 September 2016), Miami (16 January 2017), Nijmegen (10 June 2017), or another future examination location.

Best regards,

Peter Staats, MD, MBA, FIPP

Contact the Board of Examination

Write to us or call with any questions.

Registrar of Examination

Monique Steegers, MD, PhD, FIPP
Email: [email protected]

Examination Program Director

D. Mark Tolliver, MA
Email: [email protected]

World Institute of Pain