Do you
really know what the initials behind your name mean and how they are regulated?
I am always amazed when I see business cards with a virtual alphabet soup behind the person’s name, and am interested to learn what their credentials mean as they decipher them for me.
So let me ask: Can you clearly state what the CDM, CFPP initials signify when asked by those outside the foodservice world? In general, our colleagues in health care have a better idea than most as to what they mean, but at times might ask for a refresher. My mother has yet to fully understand what I do (I’ve been a CDM, CFPP for 22 years), so to help with questions that arise when she attempts to “brag,” I’ve given her my business card to keep in her purse. It pays to have professional-grade cards that include my career pedigree to impress friends and family back home!
The “C” in CDM means Certified. If asked, can you differentiate between the terms Certified, Licensed, and Registered? Can you explain whether your credentials are demographically accepted or state, local, or federally approved?
A recent ANFPConnect post from Linda Eck Mills, RDN referenced the terms licensed and certified. To further clarify and explain, the Certifying Board for Dietary Managers
® (CBDM
®) is the
credentialing agency responsible for establishing and upholding policies for and the administration of the CDM, CFPP, which is a national
certification program.
Licensure is regulated by licensure boards in every state, and dietitians in most states – along with nurses, doctors and therapists -- are licensed by these boards. CDM, CFPPs are not required to be licensed by these boards.
So yes, we are Certified Dietary Managers, not Licensed or Registered. We are recognized in the healthcare CMS Federal Regulations for Long Term Care introduced in 2016, as well as in certain state-specific Nursing Home and Hospital Regulations. For a helpful refresher, visit the ANFP web page:
www.ANFPonline.org/government-affairs. Look under the tab Federal Regulations and State Regulations to understand your state requirements. You may also e-mail
regs@ANFPonline.org for answers to your questions.
Next is CFPP, the letters that directly follow CDM. As CDM, CFPPs we understand sanitation and food safety. In fact, we are leaders in serving nutritious and safe meals. Is this credential the same as an 8 hour or less food safety training program that only gives us a certificate? In a word, no! Ours is a much more in-depth and rigorous certification that requires 9 continuing education (CE) hours in our 3 year
recertification period. This requirement keeps us current in the latest food safety regulations from CMS, FDA, USDA, The Joint Commission, and OSHA.
Certain work settings also require the food safety/handling certificate (which is different from a credential). Examples include food licenses in long-term care, those that sell food to the public, and free-standing assisted living facilities. This certificate is required when the state or county health inspectors are the agencies inspecting your kitchens, following the FDA Food Code regulations. States also have varying food safety requirements, some even have specific county requirements, so you really need to research what is required where you live. California comes to mind as one state in which your food safety state-approved course is a must. I look at it this way: the more we learn the better we serve!
There is a lot to think about when you use the CDM, CFPP letters behind your name. You owe it to yourself and our profession to have a clear understanding of how your many hours spent on coursework, passing the credentialing exam, and earning continuing education to maintain your credential have benefited you. Be proud of your CDM, CFPP designation!
So, what card is in your wallet…or your mother’s purse?
#CDMsMatter