ECHO13006 - Adult Echocardiography

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Accurate analysis and assessment of complex cardiovascular disease and their pathological processes is a core part of all echocardiographic examinations. In preparation for clinical placement you will attain the knowledge and skills needed to analyse complex cardiovascular disease. This will include consideration of the echocardiographic generated images and assessment measures, haemodynamic calculations, pressures and valve prosthetics. You will apply knowledge to practical echocardiographic tasks in the laboratory setting, and utilise simulated clinical scenarios and case studies to analyse diagnostic data to provide differential diagnoses within an ethical framework of best practice and patient safety. You will demonstrate the professional knowledge, attitude and skills required to perform a complete echocardiographic study within a time frame related to clinical expectations. This unit prepares you for the clinical environment using the Assessment of Readiness for Clinical tool (ARC) in conjunction with other assessment tasks. Attendance at practical activities is a requirement of this unit.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 12
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.25
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisites

MPAT12001 Medical Pathophysiology

AND

ECHO12003 Principles of Cardiac Assessment OR ECHO12008 Doppler Echocardiography

AND

ECHO12005 Cardiac Clinical Unit 2

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 3 - 2024

Term 1 - 2025 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. In-class Test(s) 50%
2. In-class Test(s) 50%
3. Practical Assessment 0%
4. Performance 0%
5. Reflective Practice Assignment 0%

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 42.86% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 36.84% 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 Unit and Teacher Evaluation (SUTE)
Feedback
Expectations in ECHO13006 were of greater intensity than experienced in previous CV69 units. While many students recognised the importance of this requirement in preparation for subsequent clinical placement blocks, some students felt this approach was unnecessary.
Recommendation
Students may not properly appreciate the degree of professionalism and accountability required as a cardiac sonographer. A team review of professional behaviour expectations across all scanning units will be undertaken, with consideration of industry feedback from subsequent clinical units.
Action Taken
Review of the professional behaviour expectations was completed by the team. Changes were made to the lapse in professionalism policy. Students received a warning in the first instance prior to receiving an official lapse in professionalism notice.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
In-class tests were felt to be too intense an assessment by some students.
Recommendation
Due to earlier COVID social distancing constraints and a move away from formal examinations by CQUniversity, this was the first invigilated theory assessment this student cohort had encountered in the CV69 course offering. Students were not familiar with the supervised (on campus, closed book) testing format and were likely ill-prepared for this as a result. Impressions will likely change as future student cohorts are introduced to invigilated exams from second-year units prior to enrolment in ECHO13006.
Action Taken
Students in this cohort had experienced closed-book invigilated testing in previous units. Students were provided with a practice online test to prepare them for the invigilated exam.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Students felt some lecture resources needed to be reviewed and improved, and that tutorials were too long.
Recommendation
A review of the unit lecture recordings will be undertaken, to identify where improvements can be made. Tutorial format will be reviewed, with consideration taken to reducing tutorial length.
Action Taken
Lecture recordings were refreshed for the latter portion of the content. Tutorials were kept concise and case-based to maintain student engagement.
Source: SUTE.
Feedback
Lecture content was pre-recorded and outdated.
Recommendation
Assess lecture currency and refresh content where necessary. Maintain pre-recorded format.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit coordinator observation.
Feedback
Students did not perform as well in the first in-class test (weeks 1-5) compared to the second in-class test (weeks 6-11).
Recommendation
Review learning content for the first half of the term to improve student engagement and learning. Provide updated revision materials that scaffold student learning.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE.
Feedback
Students raised concerns about volume of content in the unit.
Recommendation
As a double credit point unit, the volume of content in this unit is large. Consider the development of strategies to help students prepare and make informed study decisions for the volume of learning required in the unit.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Differentiate between the aetiology, pathophysiology and echocardiographic assessment process associated with a variety of cardiovascular disease processes
  2. Perform and interpret measurements and advanced haemodynamic calculations applied to 2D, colour and spectral Doppler derived echocardiographic measures
  3. Differentiate prosthetic valve and valvular surgical intervention functionality and disease processes
  4. Analyse case-based clinical information to formulate differential diagnoses and plan patient management
  5. Perform an echocardiographic examination efficiently and effectively
  6. Display professional behaviour, teamwork and communication skills consistent with safe practice
  7. 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, Foundation units of competence - 1 - 5.
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 6 7
1 - In-class Test(s) • • • •
2 - In-class Test(s) • • • •
3 - Practical Assessment • •
4 - Performance •
5 - Reflective Practice Assignment •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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