BMSC13020 - Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials

General Information

Unit Synopsis

The development of new therapeutic products for the medical biotechnology industry requires comprehensive knowledge of techniques used to investigate their effects on various biological pathways at a cellular level. This unit will provide you with an opportunity to apply theoretical and practical knowledge of medical biotechnology, drug development and pre-clinical testing of a new therapeutic product for industry commercialisation. You will develop new practical skills and gain experience in experimental models used to study human disease and apply these in a simulated industry environment. Your practical skills and demonstration of professional knowledge, attitude and compliance with relevant safety protocols will be assessed in a laboratory environment. Attendance at the practical activities at a compulsory residential school is a requirement of this unit. You will also develop the skills to communicate your findings to a broader audience in the medical biotechnology industry through both written reports and oral presentations.

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

Pre-requisite:

BMSC12010 Clinical Biochemistry

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
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Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2025

Term 1 - 2025 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

This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see assessment details from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.

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 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 0.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 28.57% 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: SUTE data and student communication.
Feedback
Students appreciated the opportunity to engage one-on-one with the unit-coordinator throughout the term.
Recommendation
Continue to encourage student learning by providing opportunities for high levels of student engagement.
Action Taken
One-on-one tutorials were provided as needed throughout the term.
Source: SUTE data and student communication.
Feedback
Students commented that they liked the assessment tasks which allowed them to develop a hypothetical new drug for a disease of their choice.
Recommendation
Retain assessment tasks that allow students to place their learning in a real-world context.
Action Taken
The assessment based on a real world scenario was retained for the unit.
Source: Student feedback, self reflection
Feedback
Students felt that the laboratory manual needed updating to better describe the experimental procedures.
Recommendation
The laboratory manual for the residential school should be updated to cover the experiments performed.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Self reflection
Feedback
Lecturer feels that the tutorials need to be updated to better reflect the ongoing changes in the biotechnology area.
Recommendation
Consider updating the unit content to align with the changes that have occurred in the biotechnology field since COVID19.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes
This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.