Each health profession possess a body of knowledge, the fundamentals of which must be learnt and understood.  The echocardiographic and cardiac physiology profession has selected concepts relevant to your future scope of practice. These concepts will be built upon in your future clinical capacity.

You will be asked to complete two separate In-class tests. The two in-class test marks are summative and will contribute toward 30% of the final unit grade. Each in-class test will be worth 25 marks.

• The tests will review the your knowledge of cardiac device concepts taught in lectures, tutorial delivery and practised during the residential school.
• Questions may be composed of multiple components, multiple choice, short answer, image interpretation style format.
• You may also be asked to interpret electrocardiograms, images and patient data.
• Question examples will be provided during the tutorial and residential school sessions to help you prepare for this assessment task.
• You may benefit from having a calculator available when sitting the test

In-class test One will be conducted at the Abbott intensive workshop during week 5 on Friday the 10th August.

In-class test Two will be conducted at the Abbott intensive workshop during week 8 on Friday the 7th September.

The maximum time allowed for each in-class test to be completed is 50 minutes. (2 minutes per mark)

As per the Assessment Procedures all In-class tests must be written at the scheduled time. There is no ability to apply a late penalty. In the absence of an approved assessment extension, if you do not write a test at the scheduled time, your mark on that test will be zero. This assessment is to be undertaken as an individual. As with all other university examination, colluding with other students on non-group work tasks is considered academic misconduct, and may lead to action being taken the Deputy Dean of Learning and Teaching.

Each in-class test is worth a total of 25 marks.

Responses will be assessed according to:

• accuracy and relevance of response, and competence in addressing all elements of the question
  
• use of appropriate terminology and descriptors as well as grammar and spelling
• the student’s ability to appropriately interpret electrocardiogram/images/patient data and then to succinctly compose an appropriate response based on their learning from the unit

Employer feedback rates the ability to work in a team as a desirable employee attribute. This is particularly notable in the health professions which work predominantly in teams to promote good practice and reduce medical errors. In this task you will work in a group to achieve this assessment task outcome. The unit coordinator will assign students to a group for this assessment task, and each group will be allocated a case study for evaluation. In groups, you will be required to create a poster and a 10-minute presentation articulating your findings. This task is designed to give you experience in preparing for an in-house or conference presentation to fellow colleagues in your future career.

This assessment requires you to construct links between pathophysiology, clinical symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. Your target audience is your fellow ECHO12004 students. Your objective is to teach student peers about your assigned pathology and patient case. All group members must be involved in both the preparation of the poster and oral presentation.

There are three components to this assessment:

• Part A: Patient Care Flow Analysis Poster
• Part B: Oral Poster Presentation
• Part C: SPA tool

Part A: 'Patient Care Flow Analysis' Poster. (10% of unit total)

The 'Patient Care Flow Analysis Poster' should summarise:

• the patient medical history (symptoms and known anatomical/patho-physiological abnormalities)
• speculated plausible differential diagnoses to explain current presentation
• the pathway of specialised cardiac assessment that would be required to substantiate the most plausible diagnosis (including examples of anticipated assessment outcomes)
• common management strategies, possible interventions, and prognosis relevant to the group allocated case study

The 'Patient Care Flow Analysis' poster should:

• be self explanatory
• contain appropriate key information, diagrams, cardiac images and referencing as required
• be able to be easily viewed at a distance of one meter or more
• contain lettering that is as large as possible and preferably in bold type
• contain captions and tables that are clear and succinct
• be presented in portrait orientation
• not use abbreviations or acronyms without initial explanation in the text
• allow the movement pathway of the eye over the poster to be natural (down columns and along rows)
• use arrows, hands, numbers and/or symbols to clarify poster viewing sequence
• use Vancouver in-text, image and diagram referencing style
• not be overloaded with written content or visual graphics, simplistic styling is recommended

Students will be required to print one poster per group submission in either A1 or A0 paper sizing, and to upload a digital copy of the same poster via the Moodle site assessment tab. The printed poster will be retained by the University and may be displayed for peer review.

Part B: Oral Poster Presentation. (15% of the unit total)

The 'Oral Poster Presentation' discussing the poster content:

• must be no longer than 10 minutes duration
• should not add new material but simply present a summation of the group findings
• will be video recorded for marking moderation purposes

Part C: Self and Peer Assessment (SPA) tool. (5% of unit total)

The SPA is a tool that utilises the ten responses gathered from your teammates to quantify the value they have placed on your contribution to the group work. All students will be required to individually complete a SPA tool on two separate occasions. Students will be emailed a SPA Tool access link via email. SPA submission details are confidential and are not made available to other members of the group.  An individual mark is allocated to each student based on their team work contribution.

This task carries a 30% weighting toward the final unit grade.

The case study scenario options are listed below:

Case One:
A 65-year-old man presented to his GP with symptoms of increasing breathlessness, tiredness, and a chesty cough. The patient volunteered that his symptoms had been slowly worsening over recent months and were now limiting his activity. Clinical examination revealed pedal oedema, elevated heart rate and blood pressure. The patient denied having episodes of chest pain.
Other relevant medical history includes pacemaker implantation at 40 years of age for complete heart block, medication-controlled diabetes, and known multivessel coronary artery disease (but no history of infarction). Electrocardiograph demonstrated right ventricular apical pacing morphology.
Identify possible diagnoses based on clinical presentation and medical history. Select a plausible diagnosis, identify further cardiac investigations and illustrative findings that would be required to substantiate diagnosis. Discuss patient management strategy, possible interventions, and prognosis.

Case Two:
A 37-year-old woman with known HOCM attended her annual cardiology appointment. Upon questioning, the patient volunteered that she was experiencing increasing shortness of breath and bouts of light-headedness with exertion. The patient has been asymptomatic until recent months.
Other relevant medical history includes ICD implantation, prescribed medications at highest tolerable or recommended dosages (beta-blocker, calcium channel blocker and Amiodarone), known aversion to surgical interventions.
Identify possible diagnoses based on clinical presentation and medical history. Select a plausible diagnosis, identify further cardiac investigations and illustrative findings that would be required to substantiate diagnosis. Discuss patient management strategy, possible interventions, and prognosis.

Case Three:
A 28-year-old woman was brought by ambulance to the emergency department after she collapsed whilst jogging. The ambulance documented ventricular tachycardia with left bundle branch appearance on her electrocardiograph at the time of presentation. The patient had regained consciousness and the arrhythmia had resolved by the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital. The patient described a history of occasional palpitations.
Other relevant medical history includes the death of her father suddenly at the age of 45 years, from an undiagnosed cardiac complaint. A repeat 12 lead ECG at the hospital demonstrated T wave inversions in V1-V3 with associated prolonged S-wave upstroke.
Identify possible diagnoses based on clinical presentation and medical history. Select a plausible diagnosis, identify further cardiac investigations and illustrative findings that would be required to substantiate diagnosis. Discuss patient management strategy, possible interventions, and prognosis.

Completion Advice:

Group work is defined as working together in a team and not simply working next to each other. I strongly advise that all group members collaborate into all aspects of this task.

All team members will receive the same mark for Part A & B together.

It is expected that you will share the work of this assessment task equally between group members so that an even spread of input between group members is achieved.

Part A (10% of unit total) 'Patient Care Flow Analysis Poster:

The 'Patient Care Flow Analysis' poster should:

• be self explanatory
• demonstrate research from relevant literature sources, with collation of relevant key points in logical format
• be free from grammatical and formatting errors
• include appropriate key information, diagrams, cardiac images
• demonstrate creativity
• use Vancouver referencing style in-text , and for images and diagrams displayed

Referencing: There is a link on the unit Moodle site for referencing assistance. CQUni takes the use of plagiarism very seriously, so please refer to the published guidelines on the Academic Misconduct Procedure IMPORTAL.

Part B (15% of unit total) Oral Poster Presentation:

The group presentation should:

• not add new material but simply present a summation of the group findings
• include an introduction with a clear purpose
• demonstrate a seamless transition between speakers, and have a presentation format that is smooth and well rehearsed
• include a detailed discussion and concise summary/conclusion
• be 10 minutes in duration

Speakers should:

• demonstrate confidence through voice and body language
• be clearly audible
• use technical terms appropriate to audience

A detailed marking rubric for assessment task Part A and B can be found on the Moodle site. Students are advised to familiarise themselves with this document.

Part C: Self and Peer Assessment (SPA) tool. (5% of unit total)

SPA ONE will be open for completion during week 7. (Closing Friday 31st August at 4pm AEST )

SPA TWO will be open for completion during week 9. (Closing Friday 14th September 4pm AEST)

This task will assess the student's ability to practically perform a routine 'CRM device set up and check' at an advanced beginner level, along with appropriate interpretation of associated diagnostics and electrograms.

This is a PASS/FAIL assessment piece. The assessment task is broken into two parts, a ‘professional (pre and post-test requirements)' and a ‘technical’ component.

Professional (pre-test and post-test) requirements component

• Apply patient care techniques and effective communication to obtain relevant patient history, informed consent, and to direct 'patients' accordingly.
• Apply professionalism in dealing with equipment and the testing setting.

Technical (testing) component

• performance of all baseline measurements, capture threshold tests and sense tests of a pacemaker, internal defibrillator or cardiac resynchronization therapy device
• interpretation of diagnostics in a pacemaker, internal defibrillator or cardiac resynchronization therapy device
• interpretation of stored electrogram episodes in a pacemaker, internal defibrillator or Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy device

You have 60 minutes to complete both parts of this practical.

To achieve an overall pass, each assessment component must be passed individually.

• An ‘Assessment of Readiness for Clinical’ (ARC) tool will be used to mark each component.
• The ARC tool can be found on the unit Moodle site. Students are encouraged to review this document.
• The components are graded separately so that if one component is passed and the other is not, only the failed component must be repeated.
• All the BOLDED items in the assessment ARC must be completed to receive full marks to pass the professional assessment.
• If the student has failed only the professional component, the full assessment will be repeated, but the student will only be marked on the professional component.
• All assessments will be moderated. Both the technical and professional components of the test will be video recorded for moderation purposes.
• There will be only ONE (1) opportunity to re-site either the technical and/or professional components of this assessment component. (Friday 21st September, Week 10 intensive workshop)
• Re-sit results will be released within 10 working days to ensure thorough and accurate moderation.

Students who fail a pass/fail component of a graded unit will be deemed to have failed that unit.

The CRM tutor will observe the student's performance of the full testing procedure - including professional and technical components.  

The student will have 60 minutes to perform both the professional and technical aspects of this assessment.

The ‘Assessment of Readiness for Clinical’ (ARC) tool - found on the unit Moodle site, will be used by the tutor to critique student performance.

The ‘professional’ component of the ARC tool will critique:

• communication
• professional behaviour
• patient care
• infection control
• ergonomics

The ‘technical’ component of the ARC tool will critique:

• device optimisation (for baseline measurements)
• demonstration of knowledge regarding basic device parameters
• testing technique (including device capture and sense tests)
• adherence to test protocols
• interpretation of device diagnostics
• interpretation of stored device electrograms