There are two (2) parts to this assessment. 

PART A (written assessment) and PART B (self-assessment).

Cardiac physiologists are involved in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with heart disease or suspected heart disease. Responsibilities may include preparing equipment, performing cardiac tests and assisting with related procedures, recording and analysing results.

To fulfill this diverse role, cardiac physiologists must acquire comprehensive knowledge and understanding of cardiovascular disease and common diagnostic tests. Cardiac physiologists must also be able to communicate effectively and practice safely within professional and ethical frameworks.

Part A (written assessment)

Requires responses to four sections: 

Section 1

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) describes all diseases and conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels, including heart attack, coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure. Students will be required to: 

• Discuss the prevalence of CVD in Australia. (Relevant tables and graphs may be used to enhance content).
• Suggest why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples carry the greatest burden of illness and death from this disease.
• Identify common CVD risk factors in your discussion.

Section 2

As imaging professionals, it is important to understand not only the shape and size of anatomic structures, but also their orientation to the orthogonal planes and their position relative to surrounding structures. Students will be required to: 

• Describe why appropriate patient positioning is vital for optimisation of echocardiographic windows, using the apical window as an example.
• Choose either the Parasternal or Subcostal acoustic window, source a representative echocardiographic image and label all the anatomical structures visible, along with the orthogonal plane.
• Demonstrate spatial awareness by describing the heart position in the mediastinum, relative to other vital structures.

Section 3

The Australian Medicare system is a government-funded fee-for-service system. ‘Overservicing and low-value cardiovascular care’ have been cited as reason for a Medicare system overhaul. Students will be required to: 

• Define low-value cardiovascular care.
• Provide a cardiac clinical example to illustrate this practice.
• Describe why this approach is detrimental to health care provision.

Section 4

Review the Professionals in Cardiac Sciences Australia (PICSA) website ‘Core’ documents. Students will be required to: 

• Describe why there has been a strong professional push for adoption of the standardized professional title "Cardiac Physiologist" in recent times. 
• Define the term ‘scope of practice’.
• List the five (5) clinical modalities that may form ‘scope of practice’ for a Cardiac Physiologist.

Word Count

1000 words =/-10% (word count does not include headings, images, indexes or references but does include explanations of tables and figures).

Referencing

CQUniversity Vancouver referencing style. Minimum 3 peer-reviewed journal articles (within the last 5 years) must be cited.

Format (template in Moodle under the assessment tab).

· A4 format

· Orientation portrait

· Header with student name, email and phone Number

· Footer with page numbers.

Title page should include:

· Student name

· Student number

· Unit number & name

· Assessment title

· Word count

Part B (self-assessment)

Requires students to undertake a self reflection exercise by completing the rubric provided on Moodle. The self assessment rubric can be located in the Assessment tab on Moodle. 

In the absence of an approved extension request or there are not sound reasons for a late submission, a penalty of five percent (5%) of the total available marks for the assessment will be deducted for each full or part calendar day the assessment task is overdue.

You will be assessed using the Written Assessment marking rubric on your ability to:

• Locate and critically evaluate information.
• Recognize pertinent professional information.
• Discuss the provision of a common cardiac assessment.
• Discuss professional requirements of an echocardiographer.

A downloadable copy of the Written Assessment task rubric can be found on the Moodle site.

Students will be required to practice high-quality hygiene practices and demonstrate appropriate scanning and interpretation skills throughout this practical assessment. Students will use theoretical knowledge from lectures and tutorials as well as skills and information provided at the residential school to perform these assessments under the supervision of a tutor/assessor.

Practical assessment task 1: Hand hygiene

• Demonstrate competency in the performance of effective hand washing (safe practice) using soap and water.

Practical assessment task 2: Introduction to Echocardiographic scanning skills

• Demonstrate introductory knowledge of cardiac ultrasound scanning, probe manipulation and scan sector orientation.
• Demonstrate professional behaviour and safe practice.
• Identify sector orientation.
• Manipulate the transducer. Use appropriate terminology.

A time limit of 10min will be applied to practical assessment task 2.

You must be available to act as a patient model for peer practical assessments. You may have to be a patient model on more than one occasion.

You cannot request who you scan for your practical assessment.

Students will be assessed using the Practical assessment task 1 marking rubric and Practical assessment task 2 marking rubric.

The rubrics will assess a student's ability to:

• Demonstrate professional behaviour and safe practice.
• Demonstrate introductory knowledge of cardiac ultrasound scanning.
• Identify sector orientation. Manipulate the transducer.
• Use appropriate terminology.

This is a PASS/FAIL assessment. Pass means that the standard of practice displayed is at or above the performance criteria outlined in the marking rubric. To be deemed competent and pass, all action criteria boxes must be performed correctly.

Tasks are graded separately so that if one is passed and another is not, only the failed task must be repeated successfully to pass overall. Following provision of assessment feedback, only one opportunity for re-sit of any failed tasks will be provided.

Practical assessment re-sits will be held on the same day as the original attempt (Friday 12th May 2023). All enrolled students must be available to act as a patient model for peer re-sits if requested by the unit coordinator.

Students are required to respond to a series of questions (drawn from lectures, readings, tutorials, and laboratory sessions) via an online test, within the prescribed time frame. This online test will assess the student's understanding of the content presented throughout the unit delivery. Questions will be drawn from a resource bank, to allow the online test to be different for each student. All unit content presented in lectures, tutorial presentations, at the residential school and within prescribed readings is assessable. The online test may include multiple choice, short answer, calculation or image interpretation style questions. Students are encouraged to have a calculator available when sitting the test.

To successfully complete the online test, students must:

• Access the online test via ECHO11003 Moodle at the assigned time.
• Attempt the online test only once (once started, the online test cannot be paused).
• Prepare personal notes and have a calculator when attempting the online test.
• Undertake the online test as an individual. (Questions are drawn from a question pool to allow a different online test for each student. Any incidences of academic misconduct lead to action from the Deputy Dean of Learning and Teaching).

Notify relevant staff and TASAC if technical issues arise during the online test. TaSAC is available for immediate assistance during AEST business hours.

Please note: It is important that you commence the online test before 5:50 pm (AEST) on Friday 9th June 2023 as the online test will automatically close at 8:00 pm (AEST) on Friday the 9th June 2023. If you have not completed the test by this time, your test may be submitted incomplete or with no answers.

In the absence of an approved extension, students will receive a mark of zero (or fail) for this assessment, if it is not completed by the scheduled date and time.

Students are advised to refer to the 'Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)' document for additional university guidelines regarding assessments.

Question responses will be assessed according to your ability to:

• demonstrate sound knowledge of the scope and requirements of cardiac scientists within the context of the current Australian health care system
• use appropriate terminology and descriptors as well as grammar and spelling
• appropriately interpret presented sonographic images and cardiac assessment data
• succinctly respond with accurate answers 

The following details apply:

Perusal time and online test duration will be 70 minutes in total. 

Submission instructions: 

At the assigned time, the online test can be accessed and completed through the assessment tab at the top of the ECHO11003 Moodle site. The online test will automatically close after the allocated time has elapsed.