COURSE OVERVIEW

Surgery is still considered the most effective and definitive skin cancer treatment. The Professional Certificate of Skin Cancer Surgery is ideal for acquiring and honing various surgical techniques. In a highly practical program, you will learn how to perform large elliptical excisions and different types of flaps and grafts which will allow you to manage more complex skin cancer cases in your practice.

This course is the first part of the three-part Professional Diploma of Skin Cancer Surgery. The education pathway is Professional Certificate of Skin Cancer Surgery, Advanced Certificate of Skin Cancer Surgery and Professional Diploma of Skin Cancer Surgery.

Professional Certificate of Skin Cancer Surgery

Entry Requirements and course requisites

The Professional Certificate of Skin Cancer Surgery is ideal for medical professionals wishing to learn important surgical techniques in the management of skin cancer to provide effective treatments to patients in the primary care setting, without the need for referral to specialists. Participants can expect an interactive, hands-on program with immediate applicability and the confidence to surgically treat skin lesions in their practice. The course is suitable for general practitioners and International Medical Graduates. It assumes no prior knowledge or training in the field, although HealthCert recommends that participants have some exposure to skin cancer surgery before enrolling in this course.

COURSE CONTENTS

The course provides advanced training in skin cancer surgery and teaches various techniques allowing GPs to treat more complex cases in the primary care setting. The program includes practical surgery sessions. Our team of surgical assistants will guide and support you as you practise the various surgical techniques.

The theory and practical sessions cover:

• Surgical anatomy and skin lines
• Local anaesthetic blocks
• Large elliptical excisions
• Advanced suturing techniques
• Rotation flaps
• Advancement flaps
• Full-thickness grafts
• Dog ear repairs
• Wound care and various dressings

Course participants will:

• Observe experts performing skin cancer surgery techniques on a large screen with close-up camera
• Perform surgical techniques in a simulated environment and receive feedback
• Participate in online discussion of patient cases, evaluate and make decisions
• Receive a comprehensive course folder and research/readings in the field
• Receive unlimited and ongoing access to free alumni learning resources, video lectures, and discussion forums, as well as invite-only events and special offers after completion of the course
• Receive ongoing support post-course through webinars and case review
• Have the opportunity to participate in optional clinical attachments at dedicated skin cancer clinics

COURSE OUTLINE

Saturday

PROGRAM 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 and Assessment 

The Professional Certificate of Skin Cancer Surgery is designed as a face-to-face course that is supported by online materials. There are eight units in a HealthCert Professional Certificate program. Course learning materials will be available for a minimum of 15 weeks. There will be pre-reading activities, an intensive weekend program with expert demonstrations and practical hands-on activities, online materials and further readings, individual assessment tasks and finally two online examinations.

In order to meet the requirements of professional and academic learning, the course assessment includes a professional requirement and two online examinations.

• Develop a one-page report/explanation of how you will use the learning from this course in your professional work.

Online assessment

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

• 88 authentic scenario based questions based on cases of patient care at a clinic
  • 11 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 (or enrolling in the online course).

What you get for your one-off investment

• Online pre-course activity (to be completed in your own time prior to the program component).
• Two-day weekend practical program including catering.
• All materials including surgical instruments and consumables for practical sessions.
• Full-colour workbook including all presentation slides.
• Additional online training and assessment.
• Post-course online assessment (to be completed in your own time within three months of attending the program).
• CPD points (see below for details).
• Post-course support in monthly webinars with the opportunity to discuss cases with course presenters.

CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION

Upon successful completion of the course requirements, course participants will receive the Professional Certificate of Skin Cancer Surgery. This course has been approved for two days of the Training Grant for Rural and Remote Procedural GPs Program (Procedural Grant Program).

Education Pathways

Professional Diploma Pathway

This course is the first stage of the Professional Diploma pathway. The full pathway is Professional Certificate of Skin Cancer Surgery, Advanced Certificate of Skin Cancer Surgery, Professional Diploma of Skin Cancer Surgery.

Postgraduate Pathway

Postgraduate Diploma in Minor Surgery studied through the Rila Institute of Health Sciences and awarded by the University of Plymouth (UK).

There are three modules in the Postgraduate Diploma. Medical professionals who successfully complete the HealthCert Professional Certificate of Skin Cancer Surgery, Advanced Certificate of Skin Cancer Surgery and Professional Diploma of Skin Cancer Surgery will be eligible to apply for Accreditation of Prior Certified Learning (APCL) for module 3.

The Postgraduate Diploma is mainly delivered online. No practical workshops will be required due to the APCL from the HealthCert qualifications. Overall there will be a time saving of 40 per cent of the postgraduate program due to the APCL. Exams will be held in Perth, Western Australia. 

When the Postgraduate Diploma has been successfully completed, doctors can apply for credit from the Postgraduate Diploma to the Master of Science in the Specialism awarded by the University of Plymouth.

For more information, please click here.
 

Certified Clinical Attachments Pathway

Clinical Attachments are optional and available on a 1:1 or small group basis. These provide the opportunity to observe skin cancer surgery and ask questions of the expert performing the procedures. In addition to clinical attachments in Australia, university teaching hospitals at the University of Lyon and the University of Vienna are available for clinical attachments. HealthCert certificates and university statements are awarded for participating in clinical attachments.

The dominant areas of study covered by The Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 are science and medicine. Attached to the university are the "Hospices civils de Lyon" including the "Centre Hospitalier Lyon Sud", which is the largest teaching hospital in the Rhône-Alpes region and second largest in France. Out of the 2630 faculty 700 are also medical practitioners at local teaching hospitals.

The Medical University of Vienna is the largest medical organisation in Austria, as well as one of the top-level research institutions in Europe and provides Europe's largest hospital, the Vienna General Hospital, with all of its medical staff. The Vienna General Hospital has about 100,000 patients treated as inpatients and 605,000 treated as outpatients each year.