MEDS12007 - Medical Sonography Clinical Unit 1

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This clinical unit will provide you with opportunities to apply and integrate theoretical and practical knowledge, skills and professional behaviour in the clinical environment, independently and under the supervision of qualified professionals. The practical focus in this unit includes the completion of an ultrasound scan to a beginner level of competence. You will learn to analyse images and solve problems. Behavioural aspects of professional practice are emphasised and you are expected to critically reflect on your own performance and exhibit a high level of safe patient care. Critical appraisal of performance will enable you to develop your own patient care, professional, technical and analytical skills in a work setting.

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
MEDS12002 Abdominal Ultrasound Prerequisite
And
MEDS12003 Superficial Structures in Ultrasound Prerequisite
And
MEDS12001 Physics of Ultrasound Prerequisite
And
MEDS12004 Sonography Skills Development 1, which must have been successfully completed within the last twelve months. Should this time limit have elapsed the student must successfully complete a skills / clinical knowledge revision and assessment as determined by the discipline lead or designate. Prerequisite

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 - 2023

Term 3 - 2023 Profile
Mixed Mode

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. Practical Assessment 0%
3. Portfolio 0%
4. Written Assessment 0%
5. Professional Practice Placement 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 3 - 2021 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 87.50% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 7.92% 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: Teaching team and student feedback
Feedback
The simulated clinical placement introduced as a result of COVID-19 impacts was well received by students who found it a valuable learning opportunity. Supervising tutors who also work clinically, found it to be an authentic experience and suggested all students would benefit from this 1-week simulated placement before their first placement. This will prepare students better for their clinical placement.
Recommendation
Investigate the feasibility of trialing a short duration simulation placement across all campuses. The week could be timed for immediately before the clinical placement of both blocks to ensure students are well prepared for placement.
Action Taken
A pre-clinical simulated placement was provided before students commenced their clinical placement. Again it was well received and should continue for future deliveries.
Source: Unit coordinator reflection
Feedback
In previous years the peer presentations within the tutorials was received well, however due to 2020 impacts, this was not able to be a feature of the unit this delivery.
Recommendation
The reintroduction of discussing cases and difficult scenarios that students encountered within their placement would be a valuable learning and engagement tool.
Action Taken
Case studies were provided by the unit coordinator (UC) as well as various clinical scenarios. Due to the disrupted placements it was difficult to schedule students to provide these in 2021.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Students required clarification for the requirements and the allocated marks for the written assessment.
Recommendation
Edit the marking rubric for the written assessment to provide more clarity to students.
Action Taken
The marking rubric was edited. Although the satisfaction score remained the same as last year in the SUTE data, the reason for this is unclear.
Source: SUTE
Feedback
Students required clarification for the requirements of uploading the lab attendance assessment which has an Excel spreadsheet and pdf documents.
Recommendation
Consider providing explicit instructions for the lab attendance assessment in Moodle.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
In previous years the peer presentations within the tutorials were received well, however, due to impacts of lockdowns, this was not able to be a feature of the unit this delivery.
Recommendation
Consider reintroducing discussions of cases and difficult scenarios that students encountered within their placement as this would be a valuable learning and engagement tool
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection
Feedback
Marking rubric for the clinical decision-making assessment could still benefit from adjustments.
Recommendation
Consider adjustment to the rubric in regards to the description for each section.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Unit Coordinator reflection and student feedback.
Feedback
Pre-clinical days to prepare for placement were very well received by students.
Recommendation
Continue with pre-clinical days before placement commences.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Perform sonographic examination under supervision at a beginner-level of competency.
  2. Differentiate sonographic appearances and explain sonographic findings to solve straightforward diagnostic problems.
  3. Behave professionally using appropriate interpersonal skills relevant to sonographic practice in accordance with CQUniversity graduate attributes and the Australian Sonographer Accreditation Registry requirements.
  4. Critically reflect upon your sonographic knowledge, technical skill, professionalism, teamwork, communication skills and safe clinical practice.

Australasian Competency Standards for Entry Level Sonographers

Unit 1 - 5
Unit 6, 7 and 12

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Practical Assessment • •
2 - Practical Assessment •
3 - Portfolio •
4 - Written Assessment • •
5 - Professional Practice Placement •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
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
1 - Practical Assessment • • • • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • • • • • • •
3 - Portfolio • •
4 - Written Assessment • • • • • • • •
5 - Professional Practice Placement • • •