BMSC13001 - Advanced Haematology

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit you will apply your foundation knowledge of haematology to the study of how haematological disorders manifest and are diagnosed through changes in number, cytogenetics and morphology of cells. Diseases of haemostasis including therapeutic management with anticoagulants will also be discussed. This advanced unit builds on the knowledge and skills taught in previous units and will prepare you for work as a Medical Laboratory Scientist in Haematology. You will be required to attend a compulsory residential school in Rockhampton and an assessment task will be completed on campus during this residential school.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisites:

BMSC12003 Haematology and Transfusion Science


Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School Compulsory Residential School
View Unit Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2025

Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Mixed Mode
Rockhampton

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 20%
2. Practical Assessment 30%
3. Examination 50%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 42.86% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Students appreciated the format and content of the Residential School as it allowed them to put theory into practice.
Recommendation
Continue to run residential school in the same format.
Action Taken
Residential school was run in the same format.
Source: Reflection
Feedback
The provision of additional virtual tools to aid in the understanding of cell morphology will improve performance
Recommendation
Begin to provide students with the use of virtual morphology through Cellavision.
Action Taken
Cellavision was incorporated into the unit as a formative assessment.
Source: Student feedback and self reflection
Feedback
Increase the case studies in tutorials.
Recommendation
Design more case studies to go along with the morphology sessions.
Action Taken
Further case studies were designed and discussed in tutorials.
Source: Reflection
Feedback
Update some content with current research and new recordings
Recommendation
Record some new lectures for some content.
Action Taken
Lectures were enhanced with some new content and recordings. Weeks 1,3, 6 and 9 were updated with new resources and new recordings.
Source: Student feedback in person.
Feedback
Students enjoyed the enhancements to interaction from the projector screens and blood film morphology at Residential school.
Recommendation
Maintain this form of teaching to continue to engage students.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE, Student feedback in person and self reflection.
Feedback
Some students found the number of case studies discussed were too many as they took longer than expected to discuss.
Recommendation
Promote the significance of preparation for Residential school and pre-lab learning to ensure the Case studies process is understood before residential school commences, and they can be completed more efficiently. A pre- residential school tutorial will ensure all students have this knowledge of case study structure prior to attending residential school. The residential school will also be increased to run for an extra day.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Students enjoyed the way that tutorials were interactive and presented case studies.
Recommendation
Continue to run the tutorial session in this manner.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Distinguish benign from malignant haematological disorders based on numerical, cytogenetic and morphological changes in the cells.
  2. Discuss the detection and monitoring of blood diseases using laboratory tests appropriate to the patient's clinical condition.
  3. Discuss disorders of haemostasis and the use of anticoagulant therapies.
  4. Analyse results of hematological tests and provide provisional and differential diagnoses with suggested further testing to support and confirm the diagnosis.
  5. Perform morphological analysis of peripheral blood smears to make a differential diagnosis.

Competency Based Standards for Medical Scientists, December 2009.

Unit 1: Collection, preparation and analysis of clinical material - Elements 1.1.1 - 1.1.3; 1.1.6 - 1.1.8; 1.2.4; 1.3.1 - 1.3.5; 1.5.1 - 1.5.5 & 1.6.1 - 1.6.8;   

Unit 2: Correlation and validation of results of investigations using knowledge of method(s) including analytical principles and clinical information - Elements 2.1.1 - 2.1.2; 2.2.1; 2.3.1 & 2.3.2

Unit 3: Interpretation, reporting and issuing of laboratory results - Elements 3.1.1; 3.2.1 - 3.2.3; 3.2.6 - 3.2.7 & 3.3.1 - 3.3.2

Unit 4: Maintenance of documentation, equipment, resources and stock - Elements 4.2.1 - 4.2.6 

Unit 5: Maintenance and promotion of safe working practices - Elements 5.1.3; 5.2.1; 5.3.4; 5.3.9; 5.4.1 - 5.4.5

Unit 6: Professional accountability and participation in continuing professional development - Elements 6.5.6 & 6.5.7

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Written Assessment • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • •
3 - Examination • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10