Cervical Quality Improvement Program
The Cervical Quality Improvement Program (C-QuIP) is a RANZCOG quality assurance activity for practising colposcopists. Certification of participation covers both diagnostic and therapeutic colposcopy streams.
Certification
Information on C-QuIP requirements can be accessed below.
Practising colposcopists (Fellows)
Certification requirements Australia
Confirmation of colposcopy practice
Confirmation that all treatments have been logged with histology, aiming for high-grade changes in 80% of cases
Confirmation that colposcopic data has been submitted to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) through the National Cervical Screening Register (NCSR) as mandated by legislation
Confirmation of attendance at a dedicated educational colposcopy course or scientific meeting OR having completed the Colposcopy Online Learning Program
Fellows are required to complete and submit the Certification Declaration form when applying for C-QuIP certification.
Certification requirements Aotearoa New Zealand
A minimum of 75 colposcopies is no longer needed and instead the requirements for certification of participation in C-QuIP include the following:
confirmation of colposcopy practice through submission of Gynaecology Plus reports (Standard 1) or any other report collected by practice software
confirmation that all treatments have been logged with histology, aiming for high-grade changes in 80% of cases
confirmation of attendance at a dedicated educational colposcopy course or scientific meeting OR having completed the Colposcopy Online Learning Program
Note: Aotearoa New Zealand Fellows should remain aware of the requirements mandated by the National Screening Unit.
RANZCOG trainees
RANZCOG trainees can apply for C-QuIP certification in their sixth year of FRANZCOG training.
To apply, trainees must:
have completed the appropriate Colposcopy Online Learning Program (COLP) within 12 months prior to application
provide evidence through their TAR of having completed 100 colposcopic examinations, 50 of which must be new cases
provide evidence of satisfactory completion of the Colposcopy Assessment of Procedural Surgical Skills (APSS)
complete a logbook of 10 documented treatments for high-grade lesions of the cervix (therapeutic stream)
provide a Letter of Competency signed off by their training supervisor
Please note that the signed Letter of Competency covers completion of numbers 2 and 4; copies of these do not need to be sent in.
Documents can be emailed to cquip@ranzcog.edu.au.
Documents and resources
Colposcopy Online Learning Programs — COLP Australia and COLP New Zealand and Overseas
Non-RANZCOG members
Please note: RANZCOG does not provide training or credentialing for non-RANZCOG members to perform colposcopy in any capacity; diagnostic or otherwise. Credentialing should be done locally. C-QuIP is a quality assurance program and not a formal qualification.
RANZCOG C-QuIP certification requirements
New applicants (diagnostic):
Complete the appropriate Colposcopy Online Learning Program (COLP) within 12 months prior to application for C-QuIP certification
Provide proof of attendance at an approved Colposcopy Course in the last three years prior to applying for certification
Complete a logbook of 100 colposcopic examinations, 50 of which must be new cases
Provide a Letter of Competency signed off by their training supervisor
New applicants (therapeutic):
To be certified as a treating colposcopist, new applicants should provide evidence of 15 treatments in the preceding three years that have been supervised by a C-QuIP-certified practitioner; all treatments must be logged with histology.
A treating colposcopist should aim to have histological evidence of high-grade changes (punch biopsy and/or loop specimen) in 80% of cases.
Documents and resources
New Applicants Logbook can be used to record colposcopies; each completed page should be checked and signed off by the relevant Training Supervisor using the signature box
Letter of Competency for sign off
Colposcopy Online Learning Programs — COLP Australia and COLP New Zealand.
Colposcopy data collection Australia
The National Cancer Screening Register Rules 2017 require colposcopists to provide the following cervical information to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) through the Register within 14 days of the procedure:
individuals test results
results of follow-up procedures
diagnosis (or clearance) of cancer; and
treatment information in relation to pre-cancerous abnormalities
Colposcopy data can be submitted to the Register on the Colposcopy and Treatment Form or through their Healthcare Provider Portal.
Maintaining certification
Recertification requirements Aotearoa New Zealand
Provide evidence of having attended a dedicated educational colposcopy course or scientific meeting OR by completion of the Colposcopy Online Learning Program (COLP).
Note: Aotearoa New Zealand Fellows should remain aware of the requirements mandated by the National Screening Unit (NSU).
Recertification requirements Australia
Submission of your colposcopy data to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) through the NCSR as mandated by legislation
Documented participation in a dedicated educational colposcopy course or scientific meeting OR by completing the Colposcopy Online Learning Program (COLP)
Only a course/meeting completion certificate is required to be emailed to cquip@ranzcog.edu.au for recertification.
Individual colposcopy quality assurance reports from the NCSR are not currently available. We do not have a timeframe for when these will be sent out.
RANZCOG CPD
Please look at page 10 of the RANZCOG Guide to CPD for information on how to claim hours for colposcopy.
The RANZOG CPD Framework can be found here.
Links and useful resources
The following are some useful internet links shown in alphabetical order:
A full list of national societies associated with the International Federation for Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy (IFCPC) can be accessed here.
Contact us
For further information regarding the Cervical Quality Improvement Program (C-QuIP),
please contact the C-QuIP Lead:
Phone: +61 3 9412 2938
Fax: 61 3 9419 0672
Email: cquip@ranzcog.edu.au
ADDRESS
Djeembana, 1 Bowen Crescent Naarm (Melbourne), Victoria 3004, Australia.