There are two (2) parts to assessment 1: PART A (Sonographic Scanning Skills Assessment of the Liver) and PART B (Sonographic Scanning Skills Assessment of the full abdomen).

In your future career as a qualified sonographer, you will be required to competently perform sonographic examinations of the abdomen accurately and within a timely manner. For this assessment you will be required to demonstrate the sonographic scanning skills necessary to complete a sonographic examination of the liver (part A) and the abdomen (part B). These assessments will be conducted on a standardised patient in a clinical simulation within the sonography labs. A standardised patient in a clinical simulation is a student who has been deemed suitable and coached what to do as the patient.

PART A - Sonographic Scanning Skills Assessment -  Liver

You will be required to complete a sonographic assessment of the liver as per the liver imaging protocol within a specified time to a level 2 competency. This is an assessment of the sonographic scanning skills that are further discussed and emphasised in the unit lab manual, instructed labs, lectures, and tutorials. You will be assessed using the ‘Assessment of Readiness for Clinical’ (ARC tool) which is available on Moodle.

For the technical component of this assessment, you will be required to

• Follow correct practice as per the ARC tool and liver imaging protocol, demonstrating the required critical skills within a set timeframe of 20 minutes. This will include using appropriate scanning techniques and image optimisation to produce diagnostic surveys and images.
• Narrate your technical performance by discussing anatomy recognition and identification of anatomy margins, imaging windows, optimisation and justification of diagnostic scanning approach.

PART B - Sonographic Scanning Skills Assessment - Abdomen

You will be required to complete a sonographic assessment of the abdomen as per the abdomen imaging protocol in a reasonable time period to a Level 2 competency.  This is an assessment of the pre-scan, scanning, and post-scan skills that are further discussed and emphasised in the unit lab manual, instructed labs, lectures, and tutorials. You will be assessed using the ‘Assessment of Readiness for Clinical’ (ARC tool) which is available on Moodle.

There are two (2) components to Part B, professional and technical.

For the professional component, you will be required to:

• Apply correct 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 scanning setting.
• Use correct ergonomics during the scan to prevent injury
• Apply correct infection control techniques before, during and after the skills assessment.

For the technical (scanning) component, you will be required to:

• Follow correct practice as per the ARC tool and full abdomen protocol, demonstrating the required critical skills within a set timeframe of 45 minutes. This will include using appropriate scanning techniques and image optimisation to produce diagnostic surveys and images.
• Narrate your technical performance by discussing anatomy recognition and identification of anatomy margins, imaging windows, optimisation and justification of diagnostic scanning approach.

You will have a 60 min slot in which to complete both your professional assessment and technical assessment.

Please carefully review the assessment information, full abdominal protocol and ARC tool posted on the unit Moodle site.

Part A and part B of assessment 1 must both be passed individually to pass this assessment overall.

PART A: Scanning Skills Assessment of the Liver

The assessor on the day will observe the student's performance of the full scanning procedure of the liver and assess each task relative to the stated standards of the Assessment of Readiness for Clinical (ARC) tool.

The technical assessment is marked by dividing up each section into critical and non critical skills. Critical skills must be demonstrated consistently with zero critical errors made in order to pass this assessment. There is no limit of non critical errors that may be made and still pass this assessment, however if any of those errors result in a critical error due to severity, then they will count instead as a critical error.

The ARC tool, liver protocol and supporting details are available on Moodle for more specific marking guidelines.

There is only one attempt per student.

Re-evaluation options for Part A:

Assessments will initially be marked live, and feedback provided to students.

• For students that do not achieve a pass in part A  in week 5, but then achieve a pass of the liver surveys and images in Week 8 (marked independently within Assessment 1 - Part B), Part A will be deemed as a pass.
• In the event of the student not achieving a pass in part A in either week 5 or week 8, there will be one (1) further opportunity to re-sit part A in Week 12 resits.
• In the event that a pass for Part A is not achieved in weeks 5, 8 or 11 and a final grade for assessment 1 rests on the Part A results, consensus moderation will be used to formally mark Part A of assessment 1 following week 12.

PART B: Sonographic Scanning Skills Assessment of the Abdomen

The assessor on the day will observe the student's performance of the full scanning procedure of the abdomen and assess each task relative to the stated standards of the Assessment of Readiness for Clinical (ARC) tool.

The technical assessment is marked by dividing up each section into critical and non critical skills. Critical skills must be demonstrated consistently with zero critical errors made in order to pass this assessment. There is no limit of non critical errors that may be made and still pass this assessment, however if any of those errors result in a critical error due to severity, then they will count instead as a critical error.

For the professional component, all critical requirements (bolded items on the ARC tool) in the professional section must be correctly completed in order to pass this component of the assessment. If a pass is achieved in the technical component, but not in the professional component in week 8, the full assessment (professional and technical) will be repeated in week 12, but only the professional component will be assessed.

To pass the Abdomen Scanning Skills Assessment (Part B) overall, both the professional and technical components of this assessment must be graded as a ‘pass’ individually as these indicate the required standard to progress to the first clinical placement.

There is only one attempt per student.

The ARC tool and supporting details are available on Moodle for more specific marking guidelines.

Re-evaluation options:

Scanning skills assessments of the abdomen (part B) will initially be marked live by your assessor on the day. Moderation of results will then be conducted. Moderators will be allocated from another campus and will use video recordings and/or images from your assessment which provides a more robust marking process than the live assessment. One grade (pass/fail) will be awarded after the moderation process is complete. Provisional grades will be released once the moderation process is complete.

Students who do not pass the sonographic scanning skills assessment of the full abdomen (professional and/or technical) in week 8, will be provided feedback on their performance and will be given one (1) opportunity to re- sit the technical and/or professional item in Week 11. This test will be conducted on a different patient to that of the first test.

This is a pass/fail assessment task in a pass/fail unit - a fail grade for any component of a pass/fail assessment task will result in a fail grade for the assessment task, and subsequently the entire unit.

Please be aware that ALL practical skills tests and re-sits will be video recorded for moderation purposes. Videos may be viewed by CQU sonography staff and tutors for the purposes of marking and moderation of assessments and may be required to be viewed by other CQU staff in the event of a student requesting either a Review of Grade or an Appeal of Grade. These videos will not be released to students for review.

In your future career as a qualified sonographer, you will be required to competently undertake a transabdominal sonographic assessment of the male and/or female pelvis. When performing a sonographic examination of the male and/or female pelvis, you need to identify and assess anatomical structures to determine if they appear sonographically within the normal limits. This assessment expands upon your ability to formulate strategies and implement scanning skills necessary to complete a sonographic examination of the transabdominal pelvis and to critically reflect upon these skills displayed in a mock assessment to review your ability of diagnostic practice.

This assessment consists of two parts. Part A is a mock assessment of a focused pelvic sonographic examination and part B is a reflection of your technical skills displayed in the mock assessment.

PART A: Mock sonographic scanning skills assessment of the transabdominal pelvis

As a student sonographer on your journey to competency in performing a sonographic assessment of the male and/or female pelvis, you will be required to perform a sonographic assessment of the pelvis of one (1) of the following regions.

1. Female pelvis – uterus & endometrium
2. Female pelvis – right or left ovary and respective adnexal region
3. Male pelvis – bladder and prostate

The region will be randomly allocated from the above list on the assessment day and marked using the ARC tool provided on the unit Moodle site.

You will need to follow correct practice as per the ARC tool and protocol, demonstrating the required critical skills within a set timeframe of 20 minutes. This will include using appropriate scanning techniques and image optimisation to produce diagnostic surveys and images. You will be required to narrate your technical performance by discussing anatomy recognition and identification of anatomy margins, imaging windows, optimisation and justification of diagnostic scanning approach. The assessments will be conducted on a standardised patient in a clinical simulation within the sonography labs. A standardised patient in a clinical simulation is a student who has been deemed suitable and coached what to do as the patient.

Part B - Written Critical Reflection

Following your mock scanning skills assessment of the male and/or female pelvis in the sonography labs, you will be provided access to a copy of your marked ARC tool and images of the part A assessment.

You will then be required to reflect on whether diagnostic representation of anatomy was demonstrated or could other sonographic techniques have been implemented to improve the diagnostic quality of sonographic imaging of the selected pelvic region. This will include a personal reflection of your attempt and discussion of what things you have learnt to inform how you will sonographically assess pelvic structures in the future. Your discussion must show that you have based your evaluation on current literature to demonstrate how you have used this to inform evidence-based practice. All theoretical and pathological knowledge must be referenced.

PART A: Mock sonographic scanning skills assessment of the transabdominal pelvis

The assessor on the day will observe your performance of the full scanning procedure of the selected pelvic region and use the Assessment of Readiness for Clinical (ARC) tool to assess you. The ARC tool, pelvic protocol and supporting details are available on Moodle for more specific marking guidelines. 

There is only one attempt per student.

PART B: written critical reflection

Your written critical reflection will be assessed for:

• the ability to critically evaluate the technical quality of the surveys and images performed
• suggestions for improvement of surveys and images (both technical and non-technical factors) reflection on the image acquisition process
• suggestions for improvement in future practice including relevance to the clinical setting
• spelling, grammar, academic writing
• referencing and the use of current literature to inform your discussion
• adherence to 700 word count +/- 10% (words past 770 words will not be assessed and may lead to marks not being allocated to the discussion outside of this word count)

Please carefully review the assessment information and ARC tool on the Moodle site for this assessment.

Referencing:

• Referencing is a vital component of any academic work and plagiarism is taken seriously by the university.
• Please refer to the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure document.
• See support on Vancouver referencing on the unit Moodle site.

This is a pass/fail assessment task in a non-graded pass/fail unit - a fail grade for any component of a pass/fail assessment task will result in a fail grade for the assessment task, and subsequently the entire unit.

Additionally, in a non-graded pass/fail unit, all assessment items must be correctly and accurately submitted by the due date, as there is no opportunity to apply a five percent penalty, due to the pass/fail nature of each assessment task. 

There are two (2) separate online quizzes to complete for this unit. These will assess:

• your understanding of sonographic anatomy
• your ability to identify normal variants and discriminate these from pathological processes
• your knowledge of sonographic techniques and protocols

The purpose of these quizzes is to ensure adequate review of anatomy and their sonographic appearences sufficient preparation of protocol and procedures is undertaken prior to sonographic labs.

• Once available, quizzes are open for 32 hours.
• The first quiz is in week 4 and covers the pancreas, aorta, liver, and porta hepatis.
• The second quiz is in week 6 and covers the gallbladder, spleen, kidneys, male and female pelvis and professional components.
• You are allowed ONE attempt at each quiz, so please ensure you are prepared beforehand.
• The time limit for the quiz is 20 mins and there are 20 multiple choice questions.
• These assessment tasks must be completed on or before the due dates.
• No late submissions are permitted after each quiz has closed, so please ensure adequate time for completion, with additional time for computer mishaps. If you have computer/quiz access difficulties, you need to contact TaSAC as soon as possible for assistance. Take a screenshot of the issue. After you have contacted TaSAC, please contact the unit coordinator for assistance if you cannot complete the quiz in the allocated time before the end of the quiz.
• In the event you are unable to complete the quiz in the allocated time and have suitable medical/supporting documentation, you can apply for an extension through the Assessment Extension system on the unit Moodle site before the end of the quiz to be granted an extension to the quiz time without academic penalty.
• In the absence of an approved extension, there will be no opportunity to complete a quiz after it has closed.

Answers will be either correct or incorrect and tabulated by the unit's online Moodle system.

Once started, the quiz cannot be paused, stopped or re-started. Once the time limit is reached any open questions will be automatically submitted. Once you have completed the test, it cannot be retaken.

Students must achieve a cumulative pass rate of 60% across the two quizzes to pass this assessment. (Please note that if one of the quizzes is not completed, a maximum cumulative score of only 50% can be achieved).

This assessment is to be undertaken as an individual, and is not approved as group work. As per the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure, Section 3.25 "If evidence shows that plagiarism, collusion, cheating or academic misconduct of any kind has occurred, the conduct will be considered a breach of academic integrity." Colluding with other students on non-group work tasks is considered academic misconduct, and will be reported to the Academic Integrity Unit.

This is a pass/fail assessment task in a pass/fail unit. - a fail grade for any component of a pass/fail assessment task will result in a fail grade for the assessment task, and subsequently the entire unit.

This assessment will require you to correctly complete and correctly upload the following documentation to Moodle:

The following are due week 1 (Monday, 11th July 2022 at 5pm AEST):

• Submission of a signed Student Acknowledgement and Lab Agreement
• Submission of a signed Consent Form - Sonographic Examination for Teaching Purposes 
• Lab Induction and Quiz completed and passed (Note: 100% pass mark is required. Multiple attempts are allowed)

The following documents are due week 12 (Friday, 7th October 2022 at 5pm AEST)

• Submission of completed Lab Manual Formative Feedback Forms 

The purpose of this assessment is to prepare you for professional behaviour, attendance, and documentation responsibilities on clinical placement, as well as to develop self-reflection skills by setting weekly goals and following up on progress. 

The correct completion and upload of documentation:

• Demonstrates understanding of the lab processes, procedures and Codes of Conduct.
• Ensures that you agree to take part in scanning procedures with due regard for volunteer consent processes.
• Ensures you understand safety procedures and requirements when in the sonography labs. 
• Ensures that you attend scanning labs as scheduled.
• Allows you to collect tutor and peer feedback on your skills in ultrasound scanning, image optimisation, and documentation, patient care, communication, and ergonomic performance.
• Helps you to respond to feedback with your own reflections and objectives for practice and improvement
• Ensures you complete your Formative Feedback Forms before leaving at the end of each lab (as you would be required to complete documentation for each patient's scan before the end of a clinical shift) and to have it signed by your tutor. (If you do not have all lab days signed off on your Lab Manual, you will need to write in the reason for this, however all forms in this assessment must be completed accurately and either signed off or an explanation given to pass this assessment).

To pass this assessment item you must:

• complete all paperwork accurately and on time
• save and upload in the format specified
• submit by the due date and time specified

Documentation in the clinical environment must be correctly issued, otherwise there can be dire consequences for the patient and legal ramifications for the sonographer. Hence, in the lab, non-completed or incorrectly completed paperwork will be returned to students to correct and re upload. As sonographers, it is important for you to both understand and comply with requirements regarding paperwork and documentation.

This is a pass/fail assessment task in a pass/fail unit - a fail grade for any component of a pass/fail assessment task will result in a fail grade for the assessment task, and subsequently the entire unit.

Additionally, in a non-graded pass/fail unit, all assessment items must be correctly and accurately submitted by the due date, as there is no opportunity to apply a five percent penalty, due to the pass/fail nature of each assessment task.

Professionalism and professional behaviour are critical parts of any medically aligned profession, and encompass the manner in which we treat our colleagues, patients, and the professional settings and equipment provided to us. The purpose of this assessment is to ensure that students from the Medical Sonography course are well-equipped to embody the high standards of professionalism that are expected from CQUniversity students while on their upcoming clinical placements, and as graduate sonographers in their future careers. Developing your professionalism during this unit will prepare you for the next environment in which you will be expected to maintain professional behaviour whenever in your uniform and representing the university, placement site, and yourself.

This assessment will require you to treat each of your lab sessions as a scheduled "work shift" and to exhibit professional attitudes to ensure you are prepared to enter the work force with the skills required to provide safe and professional patient care. As such, this assessment is based on assessment of student application and attendance during labs throughout the term.

Expected behaviour and its relevance to the clinical environment is listed in the Professional Behaviour Assessment Document. Additionally, please familiarise yourself with the CODE OF CONDUCT in the Lab Manual as well as the ASAR CODE OF CONDUCT and the CQU CODE OF CONDUCT so that you have a clear understanding of the rationale for, and importance of this assessment. All of these documents are posted on the unit Moodle site (under Assessment 5 documentation) for your information. Professionalism extends to colleagues, staff, patients, environment, and equipment.

This assessment is marked against the Professional Behaviour Assessment (PBA) description and incorporates a process of warnings and feedback on expected behaviour of students when in the lab environment. This will commence in week 3 of the term, and apply to activities within the lab. A warning is known as a Lapse in Professionalism (LiP). Up to three LiPs can be received within the unit without adverse consequence. A fourth LiP however will result in the assessment being graded as a fail.

In the event that a LiP point is accrued, written documentation of the reason will be completed by the on-site lecturer or the unit coordinator, and provided to you as feedback. You will have the opportunity to seek further clarification from or discuss the circumstances of the LiP point from the unit coordinator.

If unprofessional attitude or behaviour is reported by fellow classmates and not witnessed by a staff member, an unofficial warning with formative feedback will be provided in writing detailing the allegation, and your response will be documented.

There is a COMPULSORY professional behaviour Zoom session on MONDAY 11th July 2022 11am AEST.

The LiP system is designed to provide a warning to students when they exhibit unprofessional behaviour, and hence up to three LiPs (official warnings) can be issued within the unit without adverse consequence. A fourth LiP however will result in the assessment being graded as a fail.

A maximum of three LiP points can be accrued to pass this assessment.

As this is a pass/fail unit, a pass in all assessment items is required to pass this unit.