Commencing in 2015 Prof Michael McGowan and Dr John Alawneh from the UQ School of Veterinary Science developed a new approach to assessing the level of agreement in percentage morphologically normal sperm (PMNS) for individual semen samples assessed by different morphologists. In 2015-17 the use of this approach was trialled with sperm morphologists from around Australia and New Zealand. In late 2018 UQ formally approved the establishment of the UQ Sperm Morphology Standardisation Program (UQSMSP).
The objective of the UQSMSP is to assess the level of agreement between an individual participant’s assessment of sperm morphology and an overall statistically defined standard. Participants in the program will pay an annual fee of $500 to UQ. Bull semen test samples will be prepared at UQ by Professor McGowan and Dr Peter McAuliffe and sent to participants. Five selected bull ejaculates will be divided into aliquots such that each participant will receive a comparable aliquot of the ejaculate from each bull. All participants will assess sperm morphology for each test sample and then email their results to Prof McGowan within two weeks of receiving the test samples. UQSMSP will provide a confidential written report to each participant morphologist within 5 weeks of receiving all test results.
A certificate will be issued by the UQSMSP to those participants who:
- participate in the annual round of sperm morphology assessments of test samples and achieve an acceptable level of agreement with the overall median for at least 3 out of 5 samples assessed.
- attend either in person or via Skype/Zoom the annual UQSMSP meeting/workshop
A list of certified participants in the UQSMSP will be made available to the AVA and relevant industry bodies. The certificate will be able to be used by participants in their sperm morphology business communications and marketing material. The certificate will be valid for 12 months.
