ECHO12008 - Doppler Echocardiography

General Information

Unit Synopsis

An understanding of the concepts of invasive and non-invasive diagnostic cardiovascular procedures is necessary in the field of echocardiography. In this unit you will be introduced to colour and spectral Doppler echocardiographic assessment techniques. You will analyse echocardiographic measurements to assess systolic and diastolic function and perform haemodynamic calculations. You will compare and contrast cardiac pressures derived using echocardiography to those obtained using cardiac catheterisation. You will apply your knowledge to a variety of cardiovascular pathologies and case studies. You will formulate differential diagnoses and consider patient management strategies within an ethical framework of best practice and patient safety. You will perform the standard echocardiographic protocol, with colour and spectral Doppler, in the simulated laboratory environment while demonstrating professional behaviour and reflective practice. Attendance is required at practical activities.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 12
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.25
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisite:
ECHO12006 Cardiac Science
AND
MEDS12001 Physics of Ultrasound

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 No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2024

Term 2 - 2024 Profile
Brisbane
Sydney

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 12-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 40%
2. Practical Assessment 0%
3. Performance 0%
4. Reflective Practice Assignment 0%
5. In-class Test(s) 60%

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 2 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 77.78% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 33.33% 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. Moodle.
Feedback
The provision of assessment feedback for online quizzes and tests was considered inadequate by some students.
Recommendation
Live tutorial discussions, forum posts and personalised emails addressing areas of poor performance will be strengthened.
Action Taken
Students were contacted (via CQUni Success emails) upon assessment completion and invited to schedule personalised Zoom UC meetings for feedback provision. Generalised feedback was provided to the entire cohort via Moodle forum posts and tutorial discussions.
Source: SUTE. Moodle.
Feedback
Students perceived differences in expectations and explanations between tutors and staff members in scanning sessions.
Recommendation
Students will be reminded that exposure to different teaching styles is beneficial and similar to clinical experience. To promote a more synonymous delivery, casual tutors will be more thoroughly briefed prior to lab delivery, and a TEAMS site will continue to be utilised to centralise point of contact with staff members and document guidance for reflection as required.
Action Taken
Students were reminded of the value of exposure to differing teaching styles at the start of lab sessions. Tutors were briefed prior to scanning labs about session expectations. Tutors were required to familiarise themselves with the teaching material to maintain teaching quality.
Source: SUTE. Moodle, Word of mouth.
Feedback
The provision of scanning videos coupled with the answers for the PC lab was especially helpful.
Recommendation
Students will continue to be supplied with this extra media. Current resources with be reviewed and updated as necessary.
Action Taken
The scanning video guidance and session answers were again provided to students.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Students felt that they were unable to review quiz questions post assessments.
Recommendation
Students will be reminded of the assessment feedback that is available to them. All students will be contacted via CQU Success emails and invited to schedule individual Zoom meetings to review quiz questions and responses. This practice will continue. In addition online assessments will be released to students in their entirety post completion in 2024.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Students felt there were inconsistencies in familiarity of unit content and expectations between tutors.
Recommendation
Weekly TEAMS forum posts will be devised for tutors containing important information regarding laboratory sessions and expectations. A review of laboratory documentation and teaching materials will be undertaken.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Students felt that assessment weighting and time allocations should be reviewed.
Recommendation
Online quiz time frames will be reviewed. Students will also be reminded of the time constraints associated with online quizzes. Mark allocations will be reviewed to ensure adequate time is allowed for the requirements of each question. .
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Compare the aetiology, pathophysiology, diagnostic assessment process and patient management strategy for a variety of cardiovascular disease processes
  2. Perform, analyse and contrast haemodynamic calculations on cardiac assessment data to formulate differential diagnoses
  3. Perform the standard echocardiographic protocol with colour and spectral Doppler
  4. Display professional behaviour, teamwork and communication skills consistent with safe practice
  5. Apply reflective feedback to professional practice improvement.

Linked to National and International Standards
1. ASAR Accreditation Standards for Cardiac Sonography - critical practice Unit 8 - Cardiac
2. European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging Core Syllabus
3. American Registry for Cardiac Sonography Core Syllabus

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
2 - Practical Assessment •
3 - Performance •
4 - Reflective Practice Assignment •
5 - In-class Test(s) • •
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 • • •
5 - Team Work •
6 - Information Technology Competence •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • •
8 - Ethical practice • •
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