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This year’s EFCS Annual Cytology Tutorial was again a great success. The 14th annual EFCS tutorial of Cytopathology was held on June 16-18 in Toulouse (France). The event was chaired by Giovanni Negri and co-chaired by Arrigo Capitanio, and the local Host was Monique Courtade-Saidi. The Tutorial followed the classic format, based on on-site microscopy workshops and lectures covering the most important topics in Cytopathology. Eighty-six virtual slides were available in advance to the participants and were discussed live at the end of each microscopy workshop using the eurocytology.cloud platform. Nine tutors from Croatia, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland were involved in the lectures, including eleven different topics: Urine, breast, thyroid, respiratory tract, pancreatic, serous effusions, salivary gland, soft tissue and gynaecological cytology. Lectures on ROSE, molecular and digital cytology, and HPV have also been included. Social activity included a welcome party and get-together dinner in the background of the beautiful city of Toulouse. 

The Fifty-one participants (cytotechnologists, residents and pathologists) came from 22 different countries (Armenia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, French Guiana, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, Madagascar, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom) took part in the courses, resulting in a highly interested, interactive and receptive international group. All the lectures were recorded, and participants received a link to look again at the presentations. 

This year too it was decided to continue and increase the use of digital slides during the workshops, making them available about a month before the start of the Tutorial. The results obtained, i.e. more than 18,000 pages visited in approximately 2,500 visits to the various digital workshops, confirm the validity of this choice and encourage us to continue on this path.

The participants’ feedback has been very positive, with most participants judging the event quality as excellent and extremely useful. Overall, over 90% of the participants would recommend a future tutorial to a colleague and found the virtual slides helpful. Most participants judged the quality of all lectures and workshops as excellent.

Overall, it was a very successful Tutorial and a motivation to continue to organise these events in future years.

Giovanni Negri and Arrigo Capitanio

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The 13th annual EFCS tutorial of Cytopathology was held on June 13-17 in Trieste (Italy). The event was chaired by Giovanni Negri and co-chaired by Arrigo Capitanio, local Host was Fabrizio Zanconati of the University of Trieste. After years of difficulties due to the pandemic and the virtualization of the 12th Tutorial in 2021, we decided to resume the classical Tutorial format, based on on-site microscopy workshops and lectures covering the most important topics in cytopathology. The experience of last year’s successful virtual Tutorial was however not forgotten, and we decided to add virtual slides to each topic, which were available in advance to the participants and discussed live at the end of each microscopy workshop, using the eurocytology.cloud platform. Overall, fifty-seven virtual slides were uploaded for the participants. Virtual slides were used also for the on-site discussion of the cases. The new, albeit traditional approach to the tutorial was well received. Fifty-one participants (cytotechnologists, residents and pathologists) coming from 19 different countries (Armenia, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, New Zeeland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine) took part in the courses, joining the friendly and informal atmosphere of the Tutorial, and more would have participated if more microscopes had been available. Nine tutors from Croatia, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain were involved in the lectures, which included eleven different topics among urine, breast, thyroid, pancreatic, serous effusions, salivary gland, lymphnode and gynecological cytology. Lectures on ROSE, molecular and digital cytology as well as HPV have also been included. Social activity was also a highlight, including a welcome party and get-together dinner on the background of the beautiful seaside of Trieste. 

All the lectures were recorded, participants will receive a link giving them the opportunity to look again at the presentations and case discussions. 

The participants’ feedback has been very positive, with most participants judging the event quality as excellent and extremely useful. Organization and programme were judged excellent by 75 and 74% of the participants, respectively. Overall, 98% of the participants would recommend a future tutorial to a colleague, and 93% found the scanned slide useful. The quality of all lectures and workshops was judged as excellent by most participants, particularly appreciated was also the newly introduced look-alikes slide seminar that closed the Tutorial on Friday.

Beside the teaching and social activity, the Tutorial was also a special occasion to reward Luigi di Bonito, who has been Chair of the EFCS Tutorial for five editions and two times president of the European Congress of Cytology, for his contribution in education and promotion of cytology.Prof. Di Bonito was rewarded by the EFCS General Secretary Danijela Vrdoljak Mozetic.

Overall, it was another successful EFCS annual tutorial, in the best tradition of these events.

Giovanni Negri and Arrigo Capitanio

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EFCS QUATE aptitude test 2022 Report

On Friday, 17^th of June 2022, the QUATE aptitude test (Quality Assurance, Training, and Examinations) took place at the Ospedale Universitario di Cattinara, Trieste, Italy.

The QUATE (Quality Assurance, Training and Examinations committee) Aptitude Test is an international exam organized by the European Federation of Cytological Societies (EFCS) as one of the EFCS educational projects. The QUATE test aims to objectively assess the ability and competence of cytoscreeners and cytotechnologists in cervical cytology screening, either on conventional Papanicolaou, SurePath, or ThinPrep slides. The candidates are expected to have a good understanding of the general principles of a cervical cancer screening programme and cytological findings in cervical cytology. By passing the QUATE test, candidates obtain an EFCS certificate, which confirms their screening competence and contributes to achieving a high standard in cervical cancer screening in their respective cytology laboratories.

The QUATE exam in Trieste was organized by the QUATE Committee on the last day of the EFCS Tutorial, with the support of the local host.

Fifteen candidates attended the exam, 6 from Italy, 3 from Austria, 2 from Israel, 2 from Russia, one from Denmark, and one from Armenia. All of the candidates were focused on the MCQs trying to respond accurately to morphology-based questions. In the practical part of the exam, seven candidates screened ThinPrep slides, four SurePath, and four conventional slides. Apart from obtaining the EFCS certificate, candidates had the opportunity to exchange knowledge and professional experience.

The passing rate was just over 53%, which means that 8 out of 15 candidates passed the exam. Unfortunately, the most common reason for failing the screening test was repeated overcalling of negative slides as abnormal.

The organization was excellent, concerning the communication with candidates, theoretical MCQ part, and microscopy slides.

Our hosts from the Pathology Department of the Ospedale Universitario di Cattinara provided the modern venue with adequate rooms, quality microscopes, facilities, and refreshments.

The organizing committee of QUATE Trieste consisted of Asst Prof Sandra Moslavac, MD, Ph.D.,

Prof Allan Wilson, Lead Biomedical Scientist in Cellular Pathology and Consultant Biomedical Scientist in Cervical Cytology, and Asst Prof Danijela Vrdoljak-Mozetič, MD, Ph.D., Secretary-General of the EFCS.

The next QUATE examination will be offered at the 44^th European Congress of Cytology, Budapest, Hungary in October 2023.

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