Frequently Asked Questions

HealthCert does not set an English proficiency level as an entry requirement into our courses. You do not have to pass an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test. However, the courses are delivered in English and it would be expected that you should have sufficient proficiency in listening, reading and writing in the English language.

Our courses cater to medical professionals with ranging levels of expertise and interests, and offer complete learning pathways from foundation knowledge to subspecialisation.

The Skin Cancer Medicine pathway is designed to teach how to diagnose and treat skin cancer. Thus, it will include how to perform a skin examination with the use of Dermoscopy. It will also teach how to surgically treat skin cancer along with other modalities like cryotherapy, cautery, and topical therapies. Finally, it will help provide a management pathway when malignant lesions are found.

The Skin Cancer Surgery pathway focuses solely on the surgical management of skin cancer. There is no training in the diagnosis of skin cancer and melanoma. It assumes a level of prior training and experience, such that doctors are comfortable to perform biopsies and elliptical excisions and techniques like buried sutures. It would be expected that a doctor has performed about 50 excisions with primary closure. This pathway will teach the more advanced techniques of flaps and grafts and then look at how they can best be applied to the head and neck and other challenging areas for a good cosmetic outcome.

The best pathway for you will depend on your learning and career goals. The Professional Diploma of Skin Cancer Medicine will equip you with the knowledge and skills to confidently manage most skin cancer and melanoma cases that requires an ellipse or partial thickness lower leg graft. The Professional Diploma of Skin Cancer Surgery will allow you a greater knowledge and skill to surgically manage more skin cancer that requires advanced closures on challenging sites, but may require further training in the diagnosis and management alternatives.

With the design of our pathways, we would normally recommend that doctors achieve the Advanced Certificate of Skin Cancer Medicine (Step 2 of the Skin Cancer Medicine pathway) prior to progressing with the Professional Certificate of Skin Cancer Surgery (Step 1 of the Skin Cancer Surgery pathway).

Should you need clarification as to which pathway will help you to meet your learning goals, please contact a HealthCert Education Advisor.

HealthCert certificate courses are available entirely online – start anytime and study at your own pace. Flexible completion times and exam extensions are available. You may also choose to attend an optional practical workshop held throughout the year in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide. To develop your clinical skills further, we encourage you to participate in our clinical attachment programs, giving you the opportunity to observe experts completing procedures, ask questions and receive guidance. Clinical attachment programs are available in the areas of skin cancer medicine, general dermatology and aesthetic medicine.

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Fees will vary based on the program and study option selected (fully online vs online + optional practical workshop). Payments can be made upfront or in monthly instalments. Special rates and various payment options are available. GP registrars and doctors in training enjoy a scholarship of up to $500.

All of the HealthCert courses come with unique benefits and represent a great investment in your professional development, including:

• All courses are quality-assured by esteemed universities or renowned teaching institutions.
• All course presenters are experienced clinicians and/or industry experts in their field.
• Many of the HealthCert courses provide pathways to various Master’s degrees. As HealthCert is an internationally recognised leader in medical education, completion of certain courses can lead to credit or recognition of prior learning (RPL) with internationally renowned universities.
• Participants receive relevant CPD points with RACGP and/or ACRRM to meet your professional development requirements.
• Participants gain access to a valuable post-course support program, including webinars with the opportunity to ask questions and submit cases for discussion.

Should you be unable to participate in the course, please inform us at admin@healthcert.com. This will allow us to make your place available to waitlisted doctors. If you choose to attend the optional practical workshop and there is cause for postponement or you cannot travel due to Covid-19 restrictions, full workshop refund, transfer or alternative learning opportunities will be available for you. Click here to know more details on the cancellation charges and course transfers.

HealthCert is an accredited professional development provider. We take our professional development responsibilities seriously and enable all GPs who attend our courses to consider key elements of professional development. These include planning how they will use their professional learning in their practice, compiling specialist resources in the field, identifying a network of professional colleagues for support, joining professional associations and taking advantage of all they offer, keeping up-to-date with research in the field, reflecting on their own practice for continuous improvement, and seeking best practice from around the world. These elements of professional development are also helpful for various types of credit from HealthCert courses to postgraduate pathways.

For your one-off investment, you will receive unlimited access to all course content, additional learning materials, ongoing post-course support and more.

• Online pre-course activity to be completed in your own time.
• Eight online video modules to be viewed, replayed and completed at your convenience.
• All presentation slides and further learning materials available for permanent access and download.
• Instruments and consumables for practical sessions to be completed in the comforts of your office or during the optional practical workshop.
• Post-course online assessment to be completed in your own time within six months of the cohort.
• Ongoing post-course support in monthly webinars with the opportunity to discuss cases with course presenters.
• Access to the HealthCert Alumni Portal with additional free learning opportunities, special offers and other benefits.

If you have not already provided your RACGP or ACCRM number, please bring this information to the event. Please also bring the venue information sheet to ensure that you can find us easily on the day.

We supply all consumables, pens and pads, plus catering for morning, lunch and afternoon breaks. Please note that in an attempt to reduce our environmental footprint, we have adopted a green printing policy and will no longer provide print-outs of presentation slides at education events. Please download the presentation slides from the e-Learning portal prior to attending the course so you can follow presentations on your laptop or tablet and take notes. At the education event, you will also be offered a printed learning journal and a notepad. A power point will be available at your desk to connect your device. We hope this will decrease material waste which is a detriment to the natural environment. Thank you for helping us contribute to a greener planet!

The price of the event does not include any transport or accommodation. While HealthCert is not a travel agent, we do have access to some suggested hotels in the area of your event. If you have already enrolled, this information can be found in the venue and agenda information in the email received. If you have not enrolled and would like this information, please contact admin@healthcert.com.

HealthCert Education is committed to providing top-quality education. To ensure this happens, we back all our courses with a unique Double Guarantee. If within 7 days of course enrolment you are not satisfied with the course or do not find the learning relevant to your practice, get in touch with us to receive a full refund. No questions asked.

GPs working in Australia (except for in Tasmania) may prescribe Medicinal Cannabis, however, as part of the guidelines of the Therapeutic Goods Administration Special Access Scheme-B, you will need to acknowledge that you have the knowledge necessary to do so. This program will equip you with the knowledge required to manage and prescribe Medicinal Cannabis for various conditions, and can serve as part of your documentation showing that you have undertaken education in this field when you decide to become an authorised prescriber. More information here

Completion of any HealthCert course or attendance at an event will enable you to access the HealthCert Alumni Program which includes:

• Access to special alumni rates for new courses in their first year of the release
• Special alumni price for HealthCert Conferences
• Exclusive advanced access to HealthCert events
• Access to the HealthCert Skin Cancer Blog where you can discuss cases and ask questions of the course presenters
• Regular Alumni Webinars pertaining to the course(s) you have attended. These will provide content review of the course and an opportunity to discuss case studies.
• Access to the video lectures as seen during the course(s) that you have attended. These are a useful revision tool available to you post attendance at the event.

To log into the HealthCert e-Learning platform, visit https://healthcert.instructure.com and log in by entering your username and password.

Your username is the email address that your original details were sent to. If you are unable to log in, please click “Forgot password” to create a new password.

If your password reset email (sent via the eLearning platform Instructure) is not immediately sent through to your preferred email address, please check your spam or junk folder in the first instance. If it has not been sent there please ensure you are requesting the new password with the email address originally provided on your registration.

If you are still experiencing difficulties please email admin@healthcert.com for additional support and investigation.

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The standard and recommended time to complete the post-course assessment is three months after the course attendance date. If you are unable to complete the exam in this time, please email admin@healthcert.com to get an extension.

We deliver printed certificates in Australia and New Zealand. If you reside internationally, you will receive an electronic copy of your certificate.

For your HealthCert certificate to be sent, all aspects of the pre- and post-course assessment must be completed. Please check your eLearning portal to ensure that these activities have been completed.

Your HealthCert certificate will typically arrive in the month following completion of all pre- and post-course requirements. For example, if you completed all pre- and post-course activities on 19 April, your certificate will be printed in early May and sent to you during the month of May. Please allow extra time for weekends, public holidays and the postal system.

Unfortunately, to coincide with the end of the 2014 – 16 triennium, The University of Queensland has advised that it is against university policy to provide a reprint of previous certificates. If you wish to obtain a HealthCert certificate of attendance, please send your request to admin@healthcert.com.

HealthCert is not a Vocational Training Provider. We are a professional development provider; that is, we provide training for already competent, qualified professionals.

As an ACRRM/RACGP accredited professional development provider, HealthCert's goal is to expand GPs' knowledge of procedures by providing brand-free demonstrations and interactive presentations from experts in the field, in a clear and systematic manner, with practical hands-on activities and a focus on patient safety.

We encourage all GPs, as qualified professionals, to seek and comply with regulations for practice in specific areas and ensure they have appropriate insurance coverage.

Depending on their prior qualifications and experience, GPs may decide to enrol in HealthCert online courses, face-to-face courses, clinical attachments, conferences or masterclasses in addition to networking with a wide range of suppliers to compare their products and support services, and seeking professional mentors and professional association membership.

In 2006, HealthCert and The University of Queensland developed a suite of skin cancer certificate courses specifically targeted at primary care physicians. In 2017, 10 years and almost 7,000 alumni later, we unfortunately have to part with our foundation partner The University of Queensland due to their organisational change and restructuring of the School of Medicine. Past HealthCert course participants who have received a UQ skin cancer course certificate will receive full recognition of prior learning into the new HealthCert certificate and professional diploma programs in dermoscopy, skin cancer medicine and surgery. Learn more.

A note from Professor Nicholas Fisk, Executive Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland“
[…] UQ School of Medicine and HealthCert International have enjoyed a long and fruitful partnership spanning 10 years, and during this time have collaboratively grown a series of skin cancer-focused workshops targeted primarily towards GPs. […] The Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (M+BS) is moving into a new organisational model in early 2017. […] One of the outcomes […] is that the Faculty will not be in a position to continue the relationship with HealthCert International. […] We have appreciated the collaborative and mutually beneficial partnership that has seen HealthCert International grow in size and scope throughout our association and we wish you all the very best for your future endeavours. Thank you for the opportunity to have been involved in the development of HealthCert International’s skin cancer training for GPs”.

Bond University provides quality assurance for HealthCert professional diploma programs in several fields.

About Bond University
Bond University is Australia’s leading independent not-for-profit university. In the 2017 Good Universities Guide, Bond University was awarded more 5-star ratings in the student experience category than any other university in Australia, for the eleventh year in a row. Bond University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine is recognised for the excellence of its education and research in the medical, health and sports sciences fields. The Faculty offers a personalised educational experience where students enjoy small class sizes, assured placements and work experience opportunities, as well as comprehensive use of industry equipment and the latest technologies.

All HealthCert courses are professionally accredited. Please see individual course webpages for more information.

Joint fellowship with RACGP
Doctors practising in Australia and who hold reciprocal Fellowship with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) will report their CPD to the RACGP whilst working full-time in Australia. However, if you intend to hold a New Zealand practising certificate and to practise in New Zealand for any portion of the year, you will need to report your CPD to both Colleges. All activities endorsed by the RACGP for their CPD program are recognised by the College, and can be claimed as endorsed activities; however, New Zealand CPD requirements include compulsory peer review and audit of medical practice components, which are optional in the CPD program in Australia.

The World Federation For Medical Education recommends a set of global standards in CPD which can be divided into nine areas (defined as broad components in the, process, structure, content, outcomes/competencies, assessment and learning environment of CPD), covering:
1. Mission and outcomes
2. Educational program
3. Assessment and documentation
4. The individual doctor
5. CPD provision
6. Educational resources
7. Evaluation of CPD activities
8. Organisation
9. Continuous renewal

HealthCert meets these standards through the following channels:
1.1 Mission: Website
1.2 Professionalism and autonomy: Website
1.3 Outcomes of CPD: Course outlines, education guide and eLearning
1.4 Participation in formulation of mission and outcomes: RACGP, GPs and stakeholders involved
2.1 Framework of CPD activities: Course outlines and education guide
2.2 Content of CPD activities: Course outlines, education guide and website
2.3 Relation between CPD and service: Website process and GP submissions
3.1 Assessment methods: Training handbook
3.2 Documentation of CPD: eLearning
4.1 Motivation: Education Advisor services
4.2 Learning strategies: Systematic presentations
4.3 Influence of individual doctors on CPD: EA service and RACGP design with GPs
4.4 Working conditions: Reflective activities
5.1 Recognition policy: RPL
5.2 Provider obligations and development: COI policy trainers handbook
5.3 Role of medical schools: Quality assurance and university partners
6.1 Physical facilities: Venues and eLearning
6.2 Learning settings: Venues, eLearning and clinical attachments
6.3 Information technology: Canvas
6.4 Interaction with colleagues: Collaboration opportunities
6.5 Formalised CPD activities: Local, national and international CPD
6.6 Medical research: Quality development activities
6.7 Educational expertise: Training handbook
6.8 Learning in alternative settings: Freedom of movement, local, national, international
7.1 Program monitoring and evaluation: Evaluation procedures
7.2 Feedback to providers: Focus groups and feedback
7.3 Involvement of stakeholders : RACGP and ACRRM quality stakeholders
8.1 Documentation and needs for planning: Website, learning guarantee
8.2 Academic leadership: Medical and educational leaders’ biographies and CV
8.3 Budgets and resources: Fund CPD for employees, scholarships for registrars
8.4 Administration: Admin structures, organization chart and role descriptions
9.1 Continuous renewal: Review process, continuous improvement, minutes