As you progress in your competence as a sonographer, there are various 'stepping stones' by which you can measure your progress. This task is one such 'stepping stone'. You will demonstrate advanced beginner level competence in one of the required domains of practice, of which there are currently six (6).

• Vascular (DVT or carotid Doppler)
• Superficial structure (thyroid or testes)
• Breast (female or male)
• Musculoskeletal (shoulder)
• Abdomen
• Pelvic (TA and TV) in combination with / OR any obstetric study from any trimester.

This assessment task measures your overall aptitude and competence in completing an ultrasound examination in one of these six domains of practice. This must be from a different domain of practice than you completed in MEDS12007. A pelvic assessment would be preferable but not mandatory. You must achieve a level of 'advanced beginner' competence in performance of the chosen study type, as detailed in the assessment criteria. In this assessment, you will demonstrate your ability to carry out all tasks of the ultrasound examination with some or minimal intervention, guidance or correction by the assessor. The criteria assessed are the core minimum requirements defined by the Professional Competency Framework for Sonographers October 2021¹. To achieve a pass in all competencies you must achieve Level 2 (advanced beginner) or above in all criteria. A result of 'not performed' or Level 1 in any area will result in a fail for the competency of this assessment.

This task will be assessed by your clinical supervisor, or a delegate sonographer using the proficiency scoring form provided. This form will be available via the unit Moodle site. A copy has been emailed to your clinical site but it is advisable to provide a printed copy to your clinical supervisor at the commencement of your placement. Please print this form and read it carefully so you understand the criteria against in which your sonographic skill, and relevant theoretical knowledge, will be evaluated.

Discuss the best time to complete this assessment with your clinical supervisor. After the assessment ask for feedback so you can focus your efforts on improvement in the areas mentioned by your supervisor. If you do not meet the required standard on your first attempt, you must seek detailed feedback from your assessor so you can develop a strategy to improve your performance. You should share your plan for improvement with your assessor. You may then repeat this assessment and must achieve the required level. Your clinical supervisor must complete and sign the assessment form before you submit it via the unit Moodle site. The assessment must be attempted prior to the completion of the clinical placement block.

If you received a fail on your first attempt, you are permitted one (1) re-attempt in the competency domain that was first attempted. If a re-attempt is needed, submit the assessment documents from both attempts.

The assessment criteria will address the following areas of your performance:

• Patient care and communication.
• Pre-scan, scan and post-scan preparation and tasks.
• Knowledge of instrumentation including optimisation of survey and images through appropriate selection of parameters and technique.
• Interrogation of anatomy and acquisition of relevant images.
• Recognition and understanding of the relevant anatomy and pathology demonstrated.
• Ability to recognise the need to extend the clinical examination where appropriate.
• Accurate documentation and communication of findings.
• Occupational health and safety including ergonomics.

To successfully complete the competency at an Advanced Beginner Level, you must achieve Level 2 or above in all assessment areas. If you fail two (2) attempts for the competency domain you have attempted, this will result in a fail for this assessment and consequently this unit.

Clinical placement occurs in the professional workplace. As a clinical student, you are provided access to the workplace on the condition that you demonstrate the behaviours and attributes of a healthcare professional and present a positive image to the clinical facility's staff and clients. As a student in the medical sonographer profession in Australia, you are also required to be working toward consistent compliance with the Code of Conduct for Medical Sonographers.

Clinical sites mention professional behaviour, particularly teamwork and empathy, as paramount in their decision to employ a sonographer. This assessment considers your ability to communicate professionally with a diverse cultural audience of patients, staff, general public whilst demonstrating professional respect for all. You are required to function as a reliable, well-organised health team member.

Your clinical supervisor, or delegate, will be working in the sonography area with you, directly observing your day-to-day performance. These observations and collected feedback relate to your demonstrated knowledge, skills and behaviour over a span of time, not limited to a particular scan type or patient case. The observations and feedback are then used to complete the Global Assessment of Professional Attributes (GAPA) form provided.

There are three main sections to the GAPA form:

• Section 1: Applied Knowledge
• Section 2: Psychomotor Skills (scanning skills) and Standard of Work
• Section 3: Professionalism

In each section, there are multiple observable behaviours that you are required to demonstrate throughout your placement. Your assessor will assess your performance based on how frequently and to what extent you demonstrate each of the listed behaviours. Your assessor is also encouraged to provide comments to expand on the assessment outcome.

This assessment occurs twice during the placement.

The first GAPA occurs at the mid-placement point. The mid-placement GAPA assessment is formative, meaning its function is to provide you and your unit coordinator with formal documented feedback on your performance, but there is no minimum required results related to your final grade. You are expected to use that feedback to reflect on your performance, develop an action plan to address any areas of performance that are not yet at the target level for this placement and use the remaining weeks to achieve those targets. For any behaviour that you perform well on at the mid-placement assessment, it is expected that you will continue to meet that level of performance or surpass it for the rest of the placement. It is recommended that you print a few copies of the (MID and END) GAPA forms at the start of placement for your supervisor to access if required.

The second GAPA assessment occurs towards the end of the final week of the placement. The end-of-placement GAPA assessment is summative, in that its primary use is to evaluate and document your performance relative to the stated performance targets. The minimum required results are listed in the Assessment Criteria section below. Your final overall grade in this assessment depends on where you stand relative to those performance targets. As this placement is the second of four placements in the course, you should use this end-of-placement assessment as formative as well, to inform your plans for improvement in your third placement.

If minimum levels in the mid-placement GAPA are not met, you will be regarded as a 'Student at Risk'. The unit coordinator will contact you to advise you of the risk of failing MEDS13006 and provide formative feedback. You must respond to this email to show you understand the implications of this information and give details of your plans for immediate improvement. A phone call or clinical visit will follow. A review of your progress will be completed a short time after the mid placement GAPA, or at any time as requested by your supervisor or unit coordinator. Unsatisfactory scores at this second GAPA will result in a fail grade for MEDS13006.

If your second GAPA has resulted in a fail grade, you will meet with the Head of Course to discuss the instigation of an individual learning contract for you with a view to remedying your scanning skills, technical issues and/or behavioural issues. It will provide you with details of individual learning goals which must be achieved within a given timeframe. The learning contract will detail learning objectives, available learning resources, strategies and methods which will be used to assess your progress. This may involve scanning skills labs for tuition and/or assessment on a regular basis.

Occasionally student behaviour is beyond acceptable risk to clinical sites. Clinical supervisors contact CQUniversity academics immediately when this occurs. A GAPA assessment is requested at this time (which could be at any time during your placement). If the outcome of this GAPA is unsatisfactory, and/or the site feedback indicates that they can no longer host you due to the risk incurred, then this one GAPA alone, or site refusal to host, will constitute a fail for MEDS13006. Where such risk exists, your placement will terminate immediately. It is difficult to place such students in the clinical environment again. Your continued progress within the sonography course may be at risk.

There are 37 behaviours you are required to demonstrate during placement and are listed in the GAPA form.

These required behaviours are grouped into three (3) sections:

Section 1: Applied Knowledge has five (5) required behaviours

Section 2: Psychomotor Skills (Scanning Skills) and Standard of Work has twelve (12) required behaviours

Section 3: Professionalism has sixteen (16) required behaviours.

You have demonstrated satisfactory performance if you achieved Level 2 or above for ALL 37 behaviours across all sections of the GAPA. 

In order to achieve an overall grade of 'PASS' in this assessment task, you must:

• undergo both the mid-placement and end-of-placement assessments by the due dates listed,
• on the end-of-placement assessment, meet the minimum required scores in all three sections,
• ensure the information on each of the assessment documentation (MID and END GAPA) is accurately completed,
• ensure the clinical assessor (after discussion/feedback) has emailed the MID GAPA form directly to the unit coordinator by Week 6 of placement. 
• ensure the clinical assessors (after discussion/feedback) has provided you with a copy of the completed END GAPA form (which you have co-signed) and submit this via the unit Moodle site. 
• you must also ensure the supervisor retains the original of both these forms till the end of the placement.  

The clinical logbook serves as a record of the depth and breadth of experience you attained during the placement. It demonstrates the degree of progression of your skill development within and across examination types. You should analyse this record at regular intervals to assist in the formulation of learning goals that will support your achievement of the unit outcomes.

Each case will be categorised into one of the following areas:

• Abdomen (including renal)
• Superficial Parts (thyroid, testes, lumps & bumps)
• Breast (Female or Male)
• Obstetrics (first, second or third trimester) & Gynaecology,
• Vascular (carotid, DVT or other)
• Musculoskeletal
• Extras (e.g. Paediatrics or other scan types)

The Clinical Attendance and Logbook form must be verified and signed weekly by your clinical site supervisor, radiologist, or a sonographer delegated by the clinical supervisor with industry-recognised qualifications. The Clinical Attendance and Logbook form is available via the unit Moodle site. Information on how to complete this Clinical Attendance and Logbook form is also available through the unit Moodle site. A copy of this form has been emailed to your clinical site however please print these forms/information sheets and read them carefully so you understand the criteria against which your logbook will be evaluated. It is the student's responsibility to ensure the Clinical Attendance and Logbook form is maintained and signed off weekly.

The students are encouraged to maintain a daily logbook form (available via the unit Moodle site) to ensure accurate record keeping of all case studies which was observed or participated in whilst on clinical placement. Please note that the daily logbook form is for student use only thus does not require clinical supervisor verification or signatures. It is, however, recommended that students maintain these daily forms so that they may collate all logbook information accurately and efficiently on a daily basis. This information then needs to be updated in the provided electronic Logbook Spreadsheet (available via the unit Moodle site) and submitted every two weeks until the completion of the placement. It is the students responsibility to ensure regular, accurate electronic logbook spreadsheet updates for the duration of the placement.

You can submit 'outside clinical placement' logbooks dated between the end of year 2 placement and the beginning of year 3 placement. The outside clinical placement daily form and logbook spreadsheet are available in the assessment block in the unit Moodle site. The number of hours allowed to be submitted is at the discretion of the unit coordinator and the Head of course.

Please note: The 'outside clinical placement Clinical Attendance and Logbook form' must be verified and signed weekly by an ASAR accredited sonographer, radiologist or sonologist with industry-recognised qualifications. Details of either your insurance or employment must be entered in the outside clinical placement logbook. The information also needs to be entered/updated in an electronic logbook spreadsheet as well.  

Minimum number
 
Students are required to record a minimum of 150 cases across varied domains in total in an entire 10-week placement, of which fifty [50] must be complete studies in any one of the six domains of practice (abdomen, superficial, breast, gynaecology/ obstetrics, vascular and MSK shoulder). Each incomplete study (i.e. partially completed study) is counted as 0.5 of a complete study. Please note these are the minimum numbers only, and ALL examinations that you participate in or perform are to be recorded.

There are two tasks in this assessment. Task A is a Microsoft PowerPoint slide Case Presentation presented during the Zoom sessions. Task B is a Case Report which is due two weeks after the completion of the placement.

Task A

The Australian Sonographers Association (ASA) holds scientific conferences annually. Sonographers are invited to present their cases in ePoster format. An ePoster can be used to provide an eye-catching visual display of a new technique, clinical insight, a case review/series or the results of original audit/research.

You will produce and present an ePoster (in the form of a Microsoft Powerpoint Presentation) during a Zoom session. You will also be required to mark presentations presented by peers during these Zoom sessions.

PowerPoint Presentation:

The presented case must be from your own scanning case. The topic can be (but not limited to) the below:

• Report of an interesting case (the same case can be used in Task B case report assessment)
• Summary of how to optimise the image setting with the ultrasound physics explained, such as grayscale or Doppler image (except basic optimising techniques such as Depth, Focus and TGC) and demonstrate the difference in the quality of images before and after applying specific optimising techniques.
• Explain a scanning method(s) applied to overcome the obstacle encountered. (e.g. transducer manipulation, patient position, etc), and demonstrate the difference in the images before and after.
• Explain how you have extended a sonographic examination when required and discuss the sonographic reasoning for this.

Design, Presentation and Peer marking:

• Presentation submitted only as a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation
• Must include title, content and reference slides. Content can be 3 to 5 slides with 5~8 slides in total (maximum).
• All slides to be in a ‘landscape’ format
• Font style and size (e.g. 16–24 points: should be large and clear enough to be easily read from a distance)
• Minimum resolution for graphics and images (72 dpi)
• Consider a colour scheme selection that would be easy to read from a distance (contrast of text content with background colour)
• When presenting, the PowerPoint presentation should last for approximately 5-10min
• You will need to present your presentation in the allocated Zoom session.
• You will also mark peer presentations based on the following simplified rubric (available as a spreadsheet on the unit Moodle site): 

• The detailed marking rubric for each presentation you marked needs to be submitted in a spreadsheet format via the unit Moodle site. You must mark at least 20 peer presentations. 
• If you have been allocated a placement, you need to nominate your presentation session via a Google Drive link. If you are not allocated a placement, ensure you notify the unit coordinator. Please note however that it is still recommended to attend as many Zoom sessions as possible to complete the participation and peer presentation marking requirements.

Task B

The Australian Sonographers Association (ASA) publishes a scientific journal ‘Sonography’ as a commitment to ensure research is undertaken to provide an evidence base that supports the development of the profession. A clinical case report is a written account of the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of an individual patient. It is a means of communicating something new that has been learnt in the clinical setting.

You will produce a clinical case report in a style that would be eligible to be published in a ‘Sonography Journal'. The reported case must be from your own scanning case/experience. Your article can relate to all aspects of the sonography profession. These may include, but are not limited to:

• Clinical scanning specialities e.g. abdomen and chest, breast, cardiac, musculoskeletal, obstetric, gynaecological, paediatric, small parts and vascular sonography.
• Non-clinical elements e.g: workforce aspects such as sonographer education and training, patient interaction/communication, professional integrity, and sonographer health and wellbeing.

This is a pass/fail assessment item. You must pass BOTH tasks of this assessment to pass this unit.

Task A

To pass this assessment, you must participate all the following components

1. Submit your PowerPoint slides at least 24 hours before your allocated presentation time.
2. Follow the guidelines as listed in the task description.
3. Present your PowerPoint slides in the allocated session.
4. Attend at least 5 Zoom sessions live including your own presenting session and mark at least 20 presentations from all the Zoom sessions you attend.
5. After marking at least the minimum number of peer presentations, submit the detailed marking rubrics (spreadsheet) via the unit Moodle site.

Task B

The case report should be structured into the following sections:

• Introduction
• Case (or Concept) Description
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• References

The report requires five elements:

• a statement of why the case and/or concept is worth reading about.
• an account of the case and/or concept, with all relevant data and description
• a discussion of evidence, possible alternative explanations for the case or suggestions/improvements for the concept discussed
• lastly a conclusion with implications.

The report should be 1000-1500 words and include 5 figures and at least 8 references in total. Please note that the referencing system used must be Vancouver.

Any images used for the case reports must be submitted with all identifying factors removed. Identifying factors include things such as patient name, date of birth, medical record number, referring or reporting doctor, and clinical site name.

The marking rubric and an exemplar will be made available via the unit Moodle site.

Clinical Attendance:

As a health care professional, your attendance is relied upon for the provision of quality patient care. Your absence impacts service delivery and safe patient care. It is expected that you attend 100% of the time during your 10-week clinical placement to achieve the minimum 400 hours of clinical attendance. All hours worked must be entered into the Clinical Attendance and Logbook form. Not that this form is the same as the one used in Assessment 3 thus the same form can be submitted for both Assessments. The form must be verified and signed weekly by your clinical site supervisor, radiologist, or a sonographer delegated by the clinical supervisor.

The Clinical Attendance and Logbook Form form is available via the unit Moodle site. A copy has been emailed to your clinical site however please print this form and read it carefully so you understand the criteria against which your clinical attendance will be evaluated. Public holidays are included as hours worked. You can log eight (8) hours worked for each public holiday. These do not need to be 'made up'. Any time you are away from your clinical institution, you MUST supply a verifiable supporting document (such as a Medical Certificate) to justify your absence. Both your clinical supervisor and the unit coordinator MUST be informed of any absences from your clinical placement. Any absence for part, or all of, a working day must be made up after, or during (e.g Saturday /evenings if available), the clinical placement.

The minimum required hours for CG91 is 2000. This is a minimum not a maximum. The minimum required hours for this unit is 400 hours. For this unit, you may submit outside of clinical placement hours accumulated from after your Year 2 placement block and before the beginning of the Year 3 placement block. However, these hours can only be used towards your clinical hours in exceptional circumstances where there is an unexpected shortfall of your clinical placement hours. The number of hours submitted is at the discretion of the unit coordinator and Head of Course.

Clinical Placement Checklist

Your clinical supervisor/s will need to complete the ‘Clinical Placement Checklist’ to confirm they understand the assessment requirements for this unit. This document must be signed by the clinical supervisor/s within the first week of your clinical placement and you must submit this via unit Moodle site before Friday 2000 AEST of Week 1 of placement.

Mandatory Checks

In order to be eligible to undertake this unit, ALL mandatory checks on SONIA MUST be completed. If your clinical placement details are not available/visible on SONIA you will have outstanding checks and will not be eligible to commence this unit until all checks are completed. Once you have completed all checks and have all green lights on your SONIA checklist, you are required to upload a screenshot via Moodle to confirm eligibility for placement. Failure to do so may result in an ineligibility to attend placement and therefore inability to meet unit requirements. Failure to submit on time may result in a FAIL for this assessment. A fail in any component of a PASS/FAIL assessment will result in a fail for the unit.

To pass this assessment you must achieve a minimum of 400 hours (10 X 40 hours) of clinical attendance unless otherwise discussed with the unit coordinator.

Any days away from your clinical site must be documented and 'made up'. At the end of the scheduled 10 weeks of placement, if you have not met the 100% attendance requirement AND you have documented justifiable grounds for your absenteeism, you will be provided additional scheduled time to make up the time you have missed. (This scheduled make-up time may not immediately follow the scheduled 10 week placement, and / or may not be at the same placement site, depending on clinical availability). At the end of the scheduled 10 weeks of placement, if you have not met the 100% attendance requirement AND you do not have documented justifiable grounds for the absence, you will score 'Fail' for this assessment item.