MEDS20017 - Medical Sonography Clinical Unit 4

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This graduate clinical unit builds on the sonographic skills, knowledge and attitudes developed during Medical Sonography Clinical Unit 3. You will build on knowledge and attitudes developed during your studies to competently perform diagnostic scans in areas appropriate for an 'Entry Level Sonographer' (as described by the Australasian Sonography Association). You will evaluate findings to formulate a differential diagnosis and initiate further investigation when appropriate. You will solve complex diagnostic problems demonstrating understanding of a broad and coherent core body of sonographic knowledge.You will also behave professionally using interpersonal skills relevant to sonographic practice in accordance with CQUniversity postgraduate attributes and Australian Sonographer Accreditation Registry requirements.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 8
Credit Points 18
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.375
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite
MEDS20016 Medical Sonography Clinical Unit 3
Medical Sonography Clinical Unit 3 must have been successfully completed within the last twelve months. Should this time limit have elapsed the student must successfully complete one (or more) technical skill, professional behaviour and diagnostic knowledge-based assessment(s) after a period of technical skill/knowledge revision, as determined by the discipline lead or designate.

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 2 - 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 18-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 37.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 450 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Practical Assessment 0%
2. Practical Assessment 0%
3. Practical Assessment 0%
4. Practical Assessment 0%
5. Portfolio 0%
6. 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 2 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 87.50% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 12.70% 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 Teacher Evaluation
Feedback
Students felt the UC was very thorough with their time and efforts to convey important information both academic and general housekeeping. The tutorials were fantastic and provided so much information, which was a great way to revise for the OSCE.
Recommendation
Maintain weekly tutorials and continue to provide interactive tutorials, to support the ongoing revision and learning of the students.
Action Taken
Tutorials were undertaken on a weekly basis, with case studies, comparative imaging, Kahoot revision quizzes, practice MCQs and short answer questions. This enabled the students to reflect on sonographic pathology and active revision, to enhance their learning outcomes.
Source: Student Unit Teacher Evaluation
Feedback
Students felt the UC really cared about the students undertaking the unit. They felt the unit was planned and set out very well so that everything was easy to find and navigate. All assessment pieces had been explained well.
Recommendation
Maintain the layout of the Moodle Unit and continue with open communication and explanation around expectations of assessments.
Action Taken
Moodle unit layout was maintained and aligned with the layout of the school. Expectations and explanations of assessments was achieved through open and consistent communication throughout the unit.
Source: Student Unit Teacher Evaluation
Feedback
Students felt the need to track hours and types of scans meticulously was unnecessary but reasoning behind doing so was understandable.
Recommendation
There is limited flexibility with assessment tasks as they are a requirement of an external accrediting body. Minimum clinical hours hours are required to meet the accreditation standard and minimum numbers of scans in a domain of practice are necessary to ensure clinical competency for an entry level graduate sonographer. Consider ways to streamline this process.
Action Taken
Due to external accreditation, the required minimum number of clinical hours and number of scans in a domain of practice cannot be reduced. A single document for recording both clinical hours and scan numbers was developed to streamline the process.
Source: Student Unit Teacher Evaluation
Feedback
Students felt the weekly tutorials were very thorough and helpful.They felt the UC went above and beyond. They believed the Kahoot quizzes and case studies were great. They felt Moodle resources for each domain provided good revision tools. Guest presentations were very informative and also great for revision. They felt the tutorials were engaging and covered a good range of topics.
Recommendation
Continue weekly tutorials with the provision of case studies, Moodle resources and links to past lectures and external industry sites for revision purposes and revision quizzes such as Kahoot. Continue to source guest lecturer presentations in specialised domains to enhance the students learning and revision.
Action Taken
Weekly tutorials with the provision of case studies continued. Moodle resource links to past lectures, external industry sites were updated and maintained, providing useful revision tools. Guest lecturer presentations were sourced and provided, enhancing the students learning in specialised domains.
Source: Student Unit Teacher Evaluation
Feedback
Students indicated the UC was amazing and really cared about the students undertaking the unit. They never felt rushed and that the UC supported their learning process 100%. The UC was super helpful and helped to reduce the stress around the OSCE.
Recommendation
Continue to provide support through regular weekly communication and tutorials. Maintain open communication with students in relation to expectations of the unit, the learning outcomes and the OSCE.
Action Taken
Open communication was maintained through regular contact via weekly zoom tutorials, emails and phone calls. At every tutorial, the UC provided examples of what was to be expected in the image interpretation component of the OSCE, as well as clarification on how the OSCEs would be undertaken in relation to the scanning skills component.
Source: Student Unit Teacher Evaluations
Feedback
Some students felt that the expectations of the unit in relation to required competencies is unrealistic. They believe reviewing the expectations would be helpful for future students.
Recommendation
There is no flexibility with required competency assessment tasks as they are a requirement of an external accrediting body. Communicate with students and clinical supervisors around the external accreditation body's expectations to reach competency in six domains of practice.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Unit Teacher Evaluations
Feedback
Some students indicated they would like more revision and practice on musculoskeletal content (from prior unit).
Recommendation
Consider sourcing a guest lecturer to provide further musculoskeletal revision.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Unit Teacher Evaluations
Feedback
Students suggested that the quizzes were reasonable in difficulty and content, however they would have appreciated more short answer practice questions during the term.
Recommendation
Consider increasing the number of short answer practice quiz questions to support the ongoing revision and learning of the students to enhance their learning outcomes.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Unit Teacher Evaluations
Feedback
Students felt the unit coordinator facilated the tutorials to the needs of the students and covered all revision areas for assessment tasks. They really appreciated the time and effort made for them, even though they were long they found them engaging and wouldn't recommend getting rid of anything for next year's cohort.
Recommendation
Maintain weekly tutorials and continue to provide interactive tutorials, to support the ongoing revision and learning of the students. Continue to provide support through regular weekly communication. Maintain open communication with students in relation to expectations of the unit, the learning outcomes and the OSCES.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Student Unit Teacher Evaluations
Feedback
Some students noted that the quality of some of the online quiz images made them difficult to interpret.
Recommendation
Review and consider sourcing new images for online quiz questions to enhance the experience and improve the quality of the online imaging quizzes.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Perform diagnostic scans to meet the Competency Standards for an Entry Level Sonographer
  2. Evaluate sonographic findings and formulate appropriate sonographic protocols to solve complex diagnostic problems demonstrating understanding of a broad and coherent core body of sonographic knowledge
  3. Behave professionally using appropriate interpersonal skills relevant to sonographic practice in accordance with CQUniversity postgraduate attributes and Australian Sonographer Accreditation Registry requirements.

Australasian Sonography Association Competency Standards for the Entry Level Sonographer Units 1-5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Practical Assessment • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • •
3 - Practical Assessment • • •
4 - Practical Assessment • • •
5 - Portfolio •
6 - Professional Practice Placement •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Knowledge • • •
2 - Communication • • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • •
5 - Self-management •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • • •
7 - Leadership • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Advanced Level
• Professional Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Practical Assessment • • • • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • • • • •
3 - Practical Assessment • • • • • •
4 - Practical Assessment • • • • • •
5 - Portfolio • • •
6 - Professional Practice Placement • • •