In your professional role as a medical scientist, you will spend considerable time evaluating sources of information and making ethical choices.  This assessment task is designed to enable you to begin developing evaluation skills and professional codes of ethics.  

This task is a written assignment which will enable you to demonstrate your understanding of different forms of communication in the medical sciences and also allow you to identify what constitutes standards of ethical practice. You are to complete Part A to D of this assessment.

Part A) Listed below are two sources of information on the sexually transmitted disease, syphilis. One of these information sources is a peer reviewed journal article and the other is a publicly available website.  You are to read both documents and in no more than 500 words, compare and contrast the format, style, content, and intended audience of these sources of information.

When compiling your response you need to provide justification for your points of similarity or difference. For example, if you were to say “the peer reviewed publication is a more reputable sources of information”, you would need to justify this comment by using examples from either or both of the documents as to why you feel this is the case. You may choose to present your responses to part A as dot points or in a table, if you feel this helps with making your communication more succinct. Sentences and paragraphs are also acceptable ways to present your response. You do not need to insert any references in your response to part A.

    Peer review source of information

    Source – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4999316/?report=printable

    Non-peer reviewed source of information

    Source - https://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/syphilis#1

Part B) In no more than 200 words, explain why peer reviewed journal articles are a preferred source of information in comparison to publicly available websites (for example – Wikipedia, webMD, livestrong) when preparing assessments and other scholarly documents. You should present this response as full sentences.  Dot points and tables are not acceptable presentation styles when answering this question. You do not need to insert any references in your response to part B.

Part C) In no more than 200 words, explain the differences and similarities between primary and secondary literature. Provide by way of references, one example of a primary journal article and one secondary journal article. Ensure the references you provide are presented in the Harvard format. It is not suitable to use any of the given information sources (either those given in Part A of this assessment or those contained on the unit moodle page / in lecture slides) as your examples. You must find your own examples of primary and secondary literature when responding to this question.

Part D) The Tuskegee syphilis study was an infamous clinical study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the U.S. Public Health Service. The study involved monitoring the natural progression of untreated syphilis in African-American men who were under the guise they were receiving free health care from the government. In your own words identify the unethical issues associated with this study, the impact it had on the participants and the long term impact it has had on the participation of African-American people in medical research. Your response should be no more than 750 words, written in full sentences / paragraphs and reference a minimum of 3 peer-reviewed journal articles. Make sure to include a full reference list at the end of your response. The reference list is not included in the word count. Also note that, whilst a discussion about the Tuskegee study was presented during lectures, it is advisable you undertake further review of literature on this topic before compiling your response so you are fully informed of details and events which are associated with this study.

A detailed criteria sheet can be found on the unit moodle page, however assessment will  be based on knowledge of theory, rationalization and justification of your arguments/ideas, presentation and referencing.

The division of marks for each question on this assessment is as follows:

• Part A 20%
• Part B 20%
• Part C 20%
• Part D 30%
• Spelling / grammar and presentation 10%

This task is a written, group work assignment centred on one of the following diseases – asthma, type 2 diabetes mellitus, tuberculosis or hepatitis B. There are four parts to this assessment (Part A to D). Working in small groups, you are to provide responses for both Part A and Part B as they relate to your chosen disease and submit one completed copy of your lab manual as Part C. Part D is completed individually and allows you the opportunity to evaluate the contribution made by each group member towards your final submission. More detailed information about the requirements for each part are outlined below.

The groups will be assigned by the unit coordinator, however in doing so, consideration will be given for what disease you wish to report on. You can specify what disease you wish to report on before the allocation of groups has been made by completing the survey located on the unit moodle site (the survey can be located under “Essential information” tab). You have until 5:00pm AEST on Friday the 6^th of April to specify what disease you wish to report on, after this time groups will be assigned. If you have not nominated which disease you wish to report on by the aforementioned deadline, you will be randomly assigned one.

Part A)

In no more than 750 words, relate historical evidence and global perspectives to the diagnosis, treatment and management of your chosen disease. In completing part A you need to -

• Identify the medical professionals who were historically responsible for diagnosing, treating or managing this condition (were doctors the only ones responsible for this process or were other medical professionals also involved) and compare this to the people who are involved in the diagnosis, treatment or management of the condition today (are there new or emerging medical professions which assist in this process).

• Identify what impact the advancement of technology has had on procedures and processes used to diagnose, treat or manage this condition.

• Identify one important event that has impacted on diagnosing, treating or managing this condition.

Part B)

In no more than 500 words, outline how one of the following medical science disciplines - clinical measurement, medical laboratory sciences, nutrition or biotechnology, can assist in diagnosing, treating or managing your chosen disease. In completing part B you need to –

• Provide an overview of how one of the medical science disciplines can diagnose, treat or manage this condition.

• Provide a specific example of how one of the techniques or experiments performed at residential school can assist in the diagnosis, treatment or management of this condition.

Part C)

You are to submit a copy of the laboratory manual which contains your results, answers and calculations from residential school. You may choose to submit a scanned copy of your laboratory manual with handwritten responses or a copy which contains typed responses. Please note there are two copies of the laboratory manual uploaded to the unit moodle page. One copy contains background information, instructions, questions and spaces for answers/responses for each practical, the second only contains the questions and spaces for answers/responses. To reduce the size of the files being submitted you should submit the second version of the laboratory manual (the one which only contains the questions and answers).

Part D)

You are required to provide feedback on the contribution each group member made during the preparation and submission of your assessment. You will assess your fellow group members based upon attitude and willingness to contribute to the groups goal, timeliness in completing the nominated tasks and quality of the work they delivered.  You will provide feedback using an online system and links to this activity can be found under the "Essential information" tab on the unit moodle page.  As you will need to submit your assessment before evaluating your group members contribution, Part D is to be completed no later than one week after the submission date for Parts A to C.     

Important considerations when preparing and submitting your assessment –

• Groups will be assigned by the unit coordinator. Students will be assigned to a group based upon the residential school they attend and the disease they wish to report on. More information about nominating a residential school and disease is available on the unit moodle page under the “essential information” tab.

• Your responses to part A and part B should be written as full sentences and paragraphs. Dot points are not an acceptable format when providing these responses.

• As this is a group assessment item, only one person within your team needs to submit Part A to C on behalf of everyone. However all group members should list their name and student number at the top of the first page, along with which disease you have chosen to report on. You may find it useful to present this information in a table like the one below. It should also be noted that only one copy of the laboratory manual needs to be submitted for this task. The responses to Part A, Part B and Part C (answers to the laboratory activities) should be submitted by the same group member.
• Part D is to be completed individually and all group members are required to provide feedback.

A detailed criteria sheet can be found on the unit moodle page, however assessment will be based on knowledge of theory, rationalization and justification of your arguments/ideas, presentation, referencing and correctness of calculations.  Your fellow group members 

The division of marks for each questions / criteria on this assessment is as follows:

• Part A 20%
• Part B 20%
• Part C 48%
• Part D 12%