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).

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Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2025

Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Brisbane
Sydney
Term 2 - 2026 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 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 81.82% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 31.43% 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
Feedback
Some normative values varied across the lecture slides throughout the term, leading to contradictory information.
Recommendation
Revision of lecture material has commenced. All normative values will be checked and corrected as necessary.
Action Taken
Normative values have been checked and edited if warranted. As echo guidelines are updated regularly, this checking process will continue to ensure students are provided with the most recent information.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Students would like more revision resources other than weekly revision questions.
Recommendation
Students are provided with recorded lectures and downloadable lecture slides. Revision questions are also provided to allow for self-guided study. Revision questions will be updated to ensure adequate topic coverage. Students will be encouraged to attend weekly tutorials for topic review and Q & A, with reminders posted on Moodle to address historically low attendance.
Action Taken
Students are still encouraged to attend weekly tutorials. Existing revision questions were reviewed to ensure that key topics are covered. New questions are added to where gaps are identified to better support test preparation.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Students believe the skills assessment should reflect their improvement over the term rather than their performance on a single day.
Recommendation
Alternative approaches to incorporate ongoing assessment elements will be considered.
Action Taken
The measurement assessment strategy was revised this year so students could demonstrate their competency across the entire term. This change was very well received, and students performed strongly in the assessment task. This assessment method will continue for future deliveries. Interactive revision games were also added to try and encourage other types of revision outside of the revision questions.
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