Colposcopy Training in Europe

The main objective of the EFC, since its creation in 1998, is to improve the standards of colposcopic training throughout Europe. The need for uniformity in training and practice is obvious and the results of these efforts, I am sure, will be apparent in the future. Today there is a consensus by most member societies that they will introduce a minimum standard of training in their country and we hope that this practice, which is already in place in many countries, will be adopted by the rest of the European colposcopy societies. I am delighted to report that in addition to existing accreditation programmes Spain and Germany now have an accreditation programme and Greece will be holding its first accreditation exam in October 2007. For years, through the efforts of many, and following the direction set by our Past President, Joe Jordan, we have discussed and formulated the specifics of our planned Educational Programme. We have been running Image Recognition courses aimed at clinical management of women with cervical abnormalities; these have been very successfully developed under the chairmanship of Charles Redman (UK) using the Delphi technique. We wish to thank him for his efforts and dedication to the EFC. In the last 12 months courses have been held in Turin (at the 2006 EBCOG meeting), Croatia and Athens. Courses are also planned for Belgrade on 20th September 2007, immediately before the congress. A further course is being planned for Romania at the beginning of 2008. Guidelines for Management of CIN One of the priorities when I took over as President of the Federation was the development of standards of treatment. Mahmood Shafi from Cambridge University, U.K, Thomas Loening and Katja Behrens from the University of Hamburg, August 2007 Germany did a wonderful job in providing Guidelines for the Management of CIN. Hopefully, these will adopted by all Member Societies in the future and form the European Treatment Quality Standards. That, of course, will ultimately be the responsibility of each individual society/country and the final process will depend on local circumstances, needs and facilities. It is clear that these efforts cannot move forward unless the national societies are involved in the process of maintaining the momentum.

Association with other organisations

An important step in our development was the recognition of the EFC by the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG) in October 2004 when Joe Jordan and I were invited to Brussels to present the history and the objectives of the Society. It was at this meeting that the EFC was accepted as a member of the EBCOG Standing Committee on Training and Assessment (SCTA). An important step, which will greatly facilitate our aims in the teaching and training issues. The EFC, after the successful format of our last colposcopy course in Turin, two years ago, has already been invited by EBCOG to organise a new course during the 20th European Congress of EBCOG in Lisbon, Portugal, in March 2008. Our Federation already has an affiliation with the IFCPC and is cooperating with them on several topics, particularly education. The EFC was also invited to join meetings by the German Society, in Freiberg in 2005, and by the Spanish Society, in Bilbao in November of the same year. The EFC also has close connections with the East European Societies and Professor Antoni Basta organised a very successful meeting in Krakow, Poland in November 2006. It was aimed at colposcopists from Eastern Europe and was attended by over 700 delegates. I should like to thank him for his continuing effort in education. As this will be my last letter as President of the EFC, before I stand down at the Belgrade Meeting in September, I would like to end by thanking dear friends to whom the EFC owes much of its achievements. Amongst them Joe Jordan, as the first President of the Federation, and Past President for the last three years, he has played a very major role in the establishment and the development of the European Federation for Colposcopy. His knowledge, wisdom and experience have been of enormous benefit to the EFC and to myself and his advice, I am sure, will continue to help steer the Federation in the future. Thanks Joe! I would also like to thank all the members of the executive for their hard work and advice, Thomas Loening and Jurgen Heinrich, from Germany, Theo Helmerhorst, Holland, Antoni Basta Poland, Tiziano Maggino Italy, Xavier Cortes, Spain, Christine Bergeron, France and Frank Girardi, Austria who have supported our efforts from the beginning. Also, I would like to thank other European Societies, especially the BSCCP, who stood by the EFC and willingly gave advice and financial support at the beginning. The EFC has always been open to advice and suggestions and it is important that the whole process of cooperation between the National Societies maintains its momentum and continues to develop. I especially would like to thank Santiago Dexeus for his great contribution to the Federation as President Elect up until now, and I wish him all the best in the Presidency as I know that he will lead the Federation onto greater things. Finally, I must personally thank Liz Dollery who, over the years, has done a magnificent job in coordinating the impossible. It has been an honour and a pleasure to preside over this Federation for the last three years. 

Professor Emmanuel Diakomanolis
President of the EFC.

Colposcopy Training Programme (CAP) of the Spanish Association of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (AEPCC)

The main objective of the CAP of the AEPCC is to provide Spanish colposcopists with a self evaluation tool and quality control of their colposcopic practice. The accreditation programme was structured after a series of meetings between the scientific committee and the AEPCC Board which achieved a consensus amongst both parts. This programme offers Spanish colpos copists two ways of accreditation:

1. Curriculum Vitae evaluation. A grading table, which has been made public, awards points to the applicants according to their professional experience in relation to the Low Genital Tract Pathology (LGTP) and Colposcopy.
2. Exam. 60 theoretical and practice questions regarding LGTP and Colposcopy. 80% of correct questions needed to pass.

Up until now, the Accreditation has been awarded to 83 colposcopists. The Accreditation is valid for 5 years. After this period, a report on professional developments will be requested. The Accreditation will be renewed if the profes s ional developments are considered to be satisfactory according to the established grading scheme. If these are found to be insufficient, an exam will be needed for the accreditation renewal.

Javier Cortes
Spanish Society for Colposcopy

EFC Training Courses

Since April 2006 the EFC has run, in conjunction with a number of national societies and professional societies, a number of successful and innovative interactive colposcopy courses.

In April 2006, in conjunction with the EBCOG congress in Turin, over a hundred delegates attended a 2 day

course. Other courses have been held in Greece and Croatia with a forthcoming course in Belgrade this September. Future courses in Macedonia and Romania are being organised.

The Training Committee is very grateful for the considerable support from Dr. Szalai Laszlo (Hungary), Professors Goran Grubicic (Croatia), Lukas Rob (Czech Republic), and Vesna Kesic (Serbia). In addition, I would like to thank Mr Carl Chow for his considerable input and help.

CWE Redman
Chair of the Training Committee