COURSE OVERVIEW

The Advanced Certificate of Dermoscopy is the second course in the three-part HealthCert Certificate and Diploma program in Dermoscopy. The course has been designed to meet the needs of medical practitioners who already use dermoscopy and are interested in taking their skill-set to a more advanced level. The course will provide the participants with a range of knowledge in the management of nail lesions, mucosal lesions, difficult benign lesions and melanomas, pink tumours, rare skin tumours, and the broad spectrum of BCC and keratinocyte skin cancer. Recognised and developed by members of the International Dermoscopy Society, no other program brings together such a diverse and accomplished team of globally renowned dermatologists and dermoscopy experts from Italy, Austria, Greece, USA, Japan, and Australia.

This course is the second part of the three-part Professional Diploma of Dermoscopy. The education pathway is Professional Certificate of Dermoscopy, Advanced Certificate of Dermoscopy and Professional Diploma of Dermoscopy. 

THE ADVANCED CERTIFICATE COURSE IS LIMITED TO 30 PLACES PER TRIMESTER 

Advanced Certificate of Dermoscopy

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS AND COURSE REQUISITES

This course is for general practitioners and degree-qualified nurses who work under the supervision of a general practitioner. Participants must have successfully completed the HealthCert Professional Certificate of Dermoscopy course (or a qualification deemed equivalent) and HealthCert also highly recommends successful completion of at least 25 cases of dermoscopy prior to enrolment. Equivalent alternatives include: practical experience, other qualifications or successful completion of the Professional Certificate examination.

Recognition of Prior Learning

Professionally accredited qualifications and prior studies may be recognised for entry into this course. Please send an email to credit@healthcert.com for an individual assessment of your prior qualifications and experience. This email should contain information about your educational history and work experience that specifically pertain to the content and procedures covered in the Professional Certificate of Dermoscopy. Please include any applicable certificates and course outlines from previous education. The relevant Course Chair will make a determination on your application within three working days.

Doctors who have completed the UQ Certificate of Advanced Dermatoscopy and Histopathology or other formal dermoscopy training can receive academic credit towards the Professional Diploma (the final course in the three-part program) if they achieve a pass mark in the exams of the first two certificate courses Professional Certificate of Dermoscopy and Advanced Certificate of Dermoscopy. Upon successful exam completion doctors can directly progress to and will only need to pay for the Professional Diploma of Dermoscopy course.

NOTE: While the Professional Certificate of Skin Cancer Medicine course covers Dermoscopy, it does not qualify for recognition of prior learning in the Certificate and Professional Diploma of Dermoscopy program which quickly moves on to more advanced dermoscopy techniques, including the Chaos and Clues method and the assessment of lesions on the face and acral sites. Professional Certificate of Skin Cancer Medicine alumni should begin with the Professional Certificate in Dermoscopy course.

COURSE CONTENTS

The Advanced Certificate course will provide the participants with a range of knowledge including:

• Pink tumours
  
• Mucosal lesions
  
• Difficult benign lesions
  
• Nail lesions
  
• Rare skin tumours
  
• BCC and keratinocyte skin cancer
  
• Difficult melanomas
  
• Dermoscopy in general dermatology

Course participants will:

• Utilise Interactive Atlas international dermoscopy program
• Utilise YouDermoscopy application (app)
• Participate in webinars with experts and professional colleagues
• Observe professional clinic/patient interactions via video
• Evaluate dermoscopy cases in an online discussion board

Course OUTLINE

Module 1: Pink tumours - Iris Zalaudek

In this module, you will learn how to assess pink lesions including melanocytic and non-melanocytic skin tumours based on the recognition of specific vascular structures, their arrangement and specific clues. In addition, established management rules will be discussed that aid to avoid missing amelanotic melanoma.

Module 2: Mucosal lesions - Andreas Blum

In this module, you will learn the dermoscopic patterns of the most frequent lesions of the mucosa. Practical tips will be presented for using the dermoscope at the mucosal area and how to differentiate benign and malignant lesions.

Module 3: Difficult benign lesions - Caterina Longo

In this module, you will learn the morphologic variability of naevi with special features and the diagnostic clues that aid to distinguish them from malignancy.

Module 4: Nail lesions - Luc Thomas

In this module, you will learn the clinical and dermoscopic clues to help diagnose melanonychia striata and to better select patients to be submitted to biopsy. You will also learn the per-operative dermoscopic features of nail unit lentigo, nevu and melanoma. Clinical and dermoscopical features of nail unit unpigmented tumours will also be reviewed.

Module 5: Rare skin tumours - Elvira Moscarella

In this module, you will learn dermoscopy features of pigmented and non-pigmented variants of uncommon skin tumours. You will learn to identify dermatoscopic clues helpful to diagnose rare skin cancer, with special emphasis on those tumours that are associated with complex syndromes.

Module 6: BCC and keratinocyte skin cancer - Harald Kittler

In this module, you will learn to characterise patterns of pigmented and non-pigmented variants of epithelial skin cancer. You will learn to identify common and uncommon dermatoscopic clues to diagnose all variants of epithelial skin cancer with confidence.

Module 7: Difficult melanomas - Ashfaq A. Marghoob

In this module, you will learn the dermoscopic clues to help diagnose melanomas that often prove challenging to recognise clinically.  The use of dermoscopy has allowed for the improved recognition of nodular melanoma, desmoplastic melanoma, amelanotic melanoma, epidermotropic metastatic melanomas, melanoma on sun damaged skin, nevoid melanoma, verrucous melanoma, among others. The dermoscopic features to help in the recognition of the aforementioned melanomas will be expanded upon in this module.  

Module 8: Dermoscopy in general dermatology - Aimilios Lallas

In this module, you will learn the dermoscopic patterns of the most frequent inflammatory and infectious skin diseases and also practical tips on how dermoscopy can help differentiate among them.

COURSE FEES AND PAYMENT OPTIONS

GP REGISTRARS: Doctors in training who are on a recognised pathway to General Practice Registration through a recognised training provider receive a HealthCert Scholarship.

COURSE DELIVERY

The Advanced Certificate of Dermoscopy is designed as a fully online course. There are eight units in a HealthCert Advanced Certificate program.  The course is delivered in one trimester (15 weeks) with 12 weeks of online teaching (video lectures, case discussion boards, webinars) and 3 weeks of revision and examination.

The course includes:

• Full-colour workbook including all presentation slides.
• Access to additional learning resources, reference materials and video lectures.
• Reading list with references to peer-reviewed journal articles to keep up-to-date with developments in the field.
• 12-month web-based support with the opportunity to ask the instructors questions while you implement your learning.

ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS

There is a 3 week exam period at the end of each trimester. In order for you to pass the assessment and progress to the next course you must complete the assessment within this period. Exam extensions of up to six months are available on a case by case basis if required. In order to meet the requirements of professional and academic learning, the course assessment includes professional requirements and two online examinations.

• Develop a one-page report/explanation of how you will use the learning from this course in your professional work.
• Compile a report listing the resource materials that you have collected to advance and apply your knowledge.

Online assessment

• 104 knowledge questions based on a scenario of a medical practitioner undertaking special interest training.
  • 13 per module
    Example: The medical practitioner believes that 10% of the population … Is he correct?  Yes/No

• 104 authentic questions based on patient case scenarios at a clinic.
  • 13 per module
    Example: A patient arrives at your clinic with this problem … What should you do? Multiple choice images based on patient cases.

The knowledge-based examination is worth 50 per cent and the application-based examination is worth 50 per cent. The overall pass mark is 80 per cent. It is therefore not possible to pass this course on knowledge alone. Knowledge must be successfully applied to patient cases in order to pass the course.  

HealthCert recommends completion of the assessment at your convenience within three months of the completion of the course.

Certification and Accreditation

The recommended study time commitment is 124 hours per course.

RACGP: 40 Category 1 QI&CPD Points
ACRRM: 30 PRPD Points

This certificate course:

• Is recognised by Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP). The RNZCGP recognises all courses endorsed by the RACGP. Peer review and audit are compulsory
• Is accredited by The Skin Cancer Institute and may be used as part of an application for Certified Skin Cancer Doctor credentials.
• Has been collaboratively designed with, and reviewed by, Associate Professor Giuseppe Argenziano, Head of the Dermatology Unit, Second University of Naples, Italy. A prolific author of scientific articles.
• Is recognised by the International Dermoscopy Society. Membership is worldwide and more than 100 countries are represented.
• Is recognised by the Medical University of Graz as part two of the Professional Diploma of Dermoscopy that has a credit pathway towards the MSc in Dermoscopy and Preventative Dermato-Oncology.

Education PATHWAYS

Professional Diploma Pathway

The full pathway is Professional Certificate of Dermoscopy, Advanced Certificate of Dermoscopy, Professional Diploma of Dermoscopy.

Postgraduate Pathways

RPL with The University of Queensland
The Professional Diploma of Dermoscopy is guaranteed for RPL for the unit IMED7003, part of the Graduate Certificate of Medicine (Skin Cancer) which is the first step in the Master of Medicine (Skin Cancer) at The University of Queensland. There are no further requirements for this RPL, it is automatic and guaranteed and provides a saving on fees. 

View The University of Queensland, Master of Medicine (Skin Cancer) program here.

Credit into Master's degree at University of Graz

A postgraduate credit pathway exists with the Medical University of Graz towards the Master of Science in Dermoscopy and Preventative Dermato-Oncology. This pathway provides credit of over 50 percent of a Master degree (ie 10 units out of 19). Please contact Andrea Hofmann at iscd@medunigraz.at. ‎

The Master program at the Medical University of Graz is a distance learning program delivered predominantly online. The program guides participants through three different education levels and consists of 19 teaching modules. The modules can be completed in 6 semesters but graduates have the possibility to take an early exit and receive an International Dermoscopy Diploma after 3 semesters or become certified as an Academic Expert in Dermoscopy and Preventive Dermato-Oncology after 4 semesters.

HealthCert graduates will receive credit for modules 4 to 13. The three units required to obtain the International Dermoscopy Diploma from the University of Graz (Modules 1-3) can be obtained fully online.

Education Level 1: International Dermoscopy Diploma

Module 1: Epidemiology of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer
Module 2: Primary skin cancer prevention
Module 3: Secondary skin cancer prevention
Module 4: Introduction to Dermoscopy
Module 5: Dermoscopic criteria (overview) + histopathologic correlation
Module 6: Diagnostic relevance of patterns
Module 7: Diagnostic algorithms
Module 8: Dermoscopy in the daily routine
Module 9: Special issues
Module 10: Future aspects
Module 11: Dermoscopic-pathologic correlation
Module 12: Dermoscopy Atlas
Module 13: Consultation on the job

Education Level 2: Academic Expert in Dermoscopy and Preventive Dermato-Oncology*

Module 14: Advanced Dermoscopy 
Module 15: Update on recent research 
Module 16: Rare skin tumours

Education Level 3: Masters of Science in Dermoscopy and Preventive Dermato-Oncology 

Thesis
Topic-Pool

*Requirements: 1) One week on-campus at the University of Graz, Austria. Completing the “International Short Course on Dermoscopy”. 2) Two weeks attendance at a Centre of Excellence which is located all over the world, including Australia.

Fees: HealthCert graduates will pay €1500 for modules 1-3. Modules 4 to 13 will be free of payment. For the Academic expert level and the Master level payment of €5000, each is necessary. 

HealthCert Clinical Attachments

Course participants who successfully complete the HealthCert Professional Certificate of Skin Cancer Medicine may continue their professional development by completing a HealthCert Clinical Attachment at a specialist clinic or university teaching hospital to further develop professional knowledge. A HealthCert Australian Clinical Attachment is recommended as the first clinical attachment after completing the HealthCert dermoscopy qualifications and a HealthCert International Clinical Attachment is recommended for subsequent clinical attachments.