MEDS12003 - Superficial Structures in Ultrasound

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit explores the sonographic assessment of normal and pathological superficial structures. You will apply knowledge of anatomy, physiology and embryology to conduct sonographic examinations of superficial structures in the laboratory setting as well as utilising simulated clinical scenarios and case studies to critically reflect on sonographic problems. Development of the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to perform an ultrasound examination of the thyroid will be assessed within a simulated environment.

Details

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

Prerequisites

MEDS11001 Fundamentals of Sonographic Practice

and

MEDS11002 Relational Anatomy and Image Recognition

and

Corequisite

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 - 2025

Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Brisbane
Mackay
Melbourne
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 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. Practical Assessment 0%
2. Online Quiz(zes) 0%
3. Online Test 0%
4. On-campus Activity 0%

This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 54.05% (`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 student survey communication
Feedback
Some students reported a lack of consistency in the unit with regard to the practical skills component across tutors and campuses
Recommendation
Consider the meeting held with tutors across campuses at the beginning of the semester to be more "in-depth" with marking tool explanation and discussion of issues encountered from 2023. Regular communication of what is expected at the beginning of each week prior to each lab session to improve conistency. Consider improvement of videos made available in advance for both tutors and students to access.
Action Taken
A meeting was held at start of term and ARC tool, along with extra resources such as Appendix to the Assessment of Readiness for Clinical (ARC) tool and location of extra videos were outlined and explained. There were many additional videos created, including tips/tricks videos to demonstrate common student mistakes and how to improve.
Source: SUTE student communication and verbal communication at end of tutorials
Feedback
Students enjoyed the tutorials and the link of the content learned each week to real-life clinical examples
Recommendation
Maintain the additional content of patient cases and active discussion throughout tutorials to improve student/teacher engagement
Action Taken
Patient cases were delivered at end of each tutorial and were aligned in the format for the online test in assessment 3. This allowed for an "informal learning" domain and supported the intended learning outcomes of Assessment 3
Source: Unit co-ordinator reflection
Feedback
Provide more examples of what is critical/non-critical in marking tool to foster a better understanding of marking criteria
Recommendation
Consider adding images of critical and non-critical errors for each section of the marking tool for students to have a clearer idea of common mistakes/errors and expectations of what is required to pass each section. Investigate how lab demonstration videos may be used to provide clarity surrounding critical/non-critical errors.
Action Taken
An "Appendix to the Assessment of Readiness for Clinical (ARC) tool" was created which contained specific examples of images with critical and non-critical errors. Extra demonstration videos which included tips/tricks for students to action specific feedback. There was also two protocol videos created instead of one, with two different patients with differing levels of difficulty.
Source: SUTE unit comments
Feedback
Some students indicated that the time of 20 minutes for the Online Test Assessment 3 was too short. In addition students were frustrated with the layout
Recommendation
Improve the navigation and reevaluate the timing of Assessment Item 3 for an enhanced student experience.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Co-ordinator Reflection
Feedback
Some weeks, the lecture material is outdated
Recommendation
Continue updating lectures and e-reading articles for next unit delivery.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE unit comments
Feedback
Students enjoyed the case studies in tutorials
Recommendation
Maintain case study delivery in the style of the questions within the Online test assessment 3. Highlight the importance of attending these as a way of students monitoring their progress and preparation for the assessment.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Apply knowledge of anatomy, physiology and embryology of superficial structures to the sonographic examination.
  2. Differentiate the clinical appearance, sonographic appearance and aetiology of pathologies of superficial structures.
  3. Analyse clinical scenarios to provide a differential diagnosis and produce a sonographic report.
  4. Apply the practical skills and critical thinking necessary to perform a sonographic examination of the thyroid.
  5. Display professional behaviour, teamwork and communication skills and criteria to meet safe sonographic practice, the profession's Code of Conduct, and CQUniversity's graduate attributes.

The learning outcomes for this unit relate to the requirements of general sonography courses under the Australasian Sonography Accreditation Registry (ASAR), Standards for the Accreditation of Sonographer Courses (SASC):

Foundation Units of Competence 1-5

Critical Practice Units of Competence 12

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Practical Assessment • • •
2 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
3 - Online Test • • •
4 - On-campus Activity • •
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