In your professional life, you will come across difficult decision making regarding medical procedures. There is evidence that image-guided procedures have better outcomes for patients. Ultrasound is a modality that can aid in performing safe image-guided procedures as it is readily available, cheap, accessible and portable. However, it is operator dependent and training at a high level to use this technology is of paramount importance. Infection control and using an aseptic technique while performing the procedures is also important to reduce morbidity.

Practical competency assessments will be performed during week 1 (infection control) and the residential practical skills labs in week 10.

You will have the opportunity to receive formative feedback and attempt summative assessments at the residential schools.

There are two competency assessments:

Assessment 1.

There is one (1) infection control online quiz. The quiz will be open from Week 1 Monday 09:00 and close Week 1 Friday 17:00. 

The questions are a mixture of short answer, matching, drag and drop, and true/false.

Students must obtain 100% marks in this quiz to PASS this assessment.

Multiple attempts are allowed. A Fail grade in this assessment will result in a Fail grade for the unit.

Assessment 2.

There are seven (7) formative assessment quizzes covering the following topics:

• Vascular access
• Ultrasound guided injections
• Pleural effusion
• Paracentesis
• Brachial plexus nerve blocks
• Femoral and Fascia Iliaca compartment nerve block
• Suprapubic catheterization and bladder drainage

These formative assessment quizzes will be open on Week 1 Monday and can be attempted any time till they close on Week 12 Friday at 17:00. For an optimum chance of success, you should attempt these quizzes after the relevant topic is covered during the course.  You MUST attempt all the quizzes and secure 100% marks in each. Each quiz can be taken multiple times until all the answers are correct. 

There are two (2) mandatory summative practical competency assessments, both of which MUST be passed to a "competency" level in order to pass the unit.

The mandatory regions of interest are:

• Vascular access

• Guided Injections

The assessment criteria and standards for the attainment of competency are outlined in documents available on the unit Moodle site.

Practical competency tests will take place at the second compulsory residential school. The residential school will be delivered on the Sydney campus.

Please note the following excerpt from the University Assessment of Coursework Procedures:

'...students who fail a single assessment task in a pass-fail unit, or who fail a pass-fail component of a graded unit will be deemed to have failed that unit'

(https://staffnet.cqu.edu.au/tools-resources/policies/Documents/Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework) (current version - from Term 1, 2018).pdf)

Non- attendance will need to be supported by a Medical Certificate or equivalent.

A Pass/ Fail grade will be given.

A Fail grade in any of the assessments will result in a Fail grade for the unit.

A PASS grade for the summative assessments of any region will be based on competency criteria developed at CQUni by experienced clinical sonographers. Competency criteria reference documents are provided on the unit specific moodle site.

Competency will be be focused on the correct knowledge for:

• Appropriate explanation of procedure and obtain informed consent
• Patient positioning
• Correct infection control technique
• Appropriate equipment for examination
• Correct patient details
• Correct choice of machine probe and presets
• Correct optimisation of image
• Correct optimisation of access for image
• Recognises anatomical relations
• Appropriate time for procedure with good patient care
• Ability to reduce image artifact
• Correct annotation
• Provides appropriate images
• Demonstrates the ability to integrate findings into the clinical care
• Ensures patient confidentiality
• Correct infection control
• Safe practice

Ultrasound is a practical health profession, hence practical experience is vital to being able to develop the skills required to acquire and optimise an image, and safely perform a guided procedure. The clinical portfolio serves as a record of the experience that students have obtained during the unit.

You will collect Four (4) sets of documentation for an ultrasound study either done by yourself in clinical practice.

Each set will contain:

• Ultrasound images
• Formal report
• Self-evaluation of performance
• Each set of documents should be created in a unique folder on a USB (jpeg file) 
• NO video files of any sort should be uploaded.

By the second residential school, each student will have a minimum of four cases in their portfolio. This will include a mix of cases to ensure exposure to a range of procedures and enhance understanding of image guided procedure advantages and limitations. Each case must be reviewed and signed by your clinical supervisor. You can collect these cases at the site of your clinical work or during the residential school labs.

Students will bring their clinical portfolio with them to the second residential school for review. This will include a hard copy of the portfolio template duly filled in and signed by the student and the supervisor, and a USB containing images (jpeg) obtained in each study. The USB will be retained for marking. Please make sure that patient privacy is adhered to by de-identifying all images. 

Each case should address the following:

• A brief demographic of patient
• Clinical context
• Description of the procedure performed 
• Most appropriate image 
• Self-reflection