• This update includes information about the Essential Knowledge Quiz and where to find it.

2021 saw all Colleges introduce revised recertification programmes, in line with recommendations from the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ).

One of the new components in our programme brought about by these recommendations was the Essential Knowledge Quiz (EKQ).

The EKQ is an annual quiz which highlights recent and important policies, standards, guidelines and positions from the MCNZ and the College. It is not designed to be a difficult quiz, but it encourages and requires reading of certain documents, such that awareness is drawn to the information within. For busy clinicians, keeping up to date with the latest information from both the College and MCNZ can be difficult, and so this ensures that once a year, we spend a little time, as part of our annual CPD requirements, to read and assimilate the important points from these documents.

There is one EKQ written per calendar year, and we are required to complete one per year. Until now, they have been accessible via the website, but as of last month, we have migrated the EKQ to TalentLMS. You will find both the 2024 and the 2025 EKQs on TalentLMS. Each section has links to the relevant documents and a quiz that consists of 10 questions. The pass mark is 100%. If you fail to get that, you will be provided with immediate feedback, and you can immediately retake the quiz. Upon successful completion, you are instructed to save the results page as a PDF (via the print option) and upload that PDF to your UCCIS.

There will be 2 EKQs available in TalentLMS at any one time. Next year, when the 2026 quiz goes live, the 2024 one will be removed. There are 4 rollover dates for CPD cycles throughout the year. So, some people will find themselves completing the previous year’s quiz in the current year, which is why there will always be two available. TalentLMS will record completion, so you will not be able to complete the quiz successfully more than once. Old quizzes will also be removed as policies are updated, and the quizzes must reflect up-to-date information.

The name, Essential Knowledge Quiz, was taken from the MCNZ paperwork, which might confuse people at first glance. It is really an essential policy and statements quiz. We hope you find it useful and that it challenges you to take a deeper look at information, important to your practice, that you might otherwise have overlooked. Clinical quizzes will be available for CPD purposes within TalentLMS. Many of these clinical quizzes will be linked to the Urgent Care Course modules, so over time, there will be an increasing number of quizzes to help augment your clinical knowledge. However, the EKQ is an annual requirement that we must all complete and document in UCCIS.

If you have any issues accessing the EKQ in Talent, please email admin@rnzcuc.org.nz

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2026.

Ngā mihi nui,

Dr. Guy Melrose – Director of Professional Development