Unit Synopsis
The unit will be divided into two main components: pharmacotherapeutics and anaesthesia, specific to podiatry practice. In pharmacotherapeutics, you will gain an understanding of Schedule 2, 3, 4, and 8 medicines administered in common diseases seen in podiatry practice and learn further about their role in the management of disease. In anaesthesia, you will gain advanced knowledge of anaesthetics pertinent to podiatry practice. Topics covered will include pre-surgical history and physical assessment, informed consent, charting, maximum safe dose, and injection instrumentation. You will also begin to practice injection techniques in a simulated setting.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 3 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisite: PODI13007 Clinical Practice 2; BMSC13010 Pharmacology; MPAT12001 Medical Pathophysiology - and Corequisite: PODI13011 Clinical Practice 3 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 - 2026
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
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).
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. Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) | 30% |
| 2. On-campus Activity | 20% |
| 3. In-class Test(s) | 50% |
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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 0.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 0% 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: Informal feedback from students.
Students appreciated the content expertise brought by the sessional lecturer.
It is recommended that educators who hold endorsement for scheduled medicines continue to be engaged to deliver the face-to-face teaching in this unit.
In 2025, educators who hold endorsement for scheduled medicines continued to be engaged to deliver the face-to-face teaching for this unit.
Source: Staff feedback.
The quality of lecture content is sound, but could be more concise.
It is recommended that the unit coordinator works with podiatrists with endorsement for scheduled medicines to streamline some of the more content-heavy lectures in this unit.
In 2025, all lectures were reviewed by a podiatrist with endorsement for scheduled medicines.
Source: Staff feedback.
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodyamics teaching should be delivered across two-weeks instead of one week.
It is recommended that the Week 1 lecture (pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics) be delivered over two weeks to allow for sufficient time for the complexity of these topics to be effectively explained to, and understood by, students.
In 2025, pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic content were delivered across two weeks.
Source: Unit coordinator reflection.
The volume of work required for the 'on-campus activity' could be reduced.
It is recommended that the volume of work required for the 'on-campus activity' (medications review) be reduced to be more commensurate with the assessment weighting (20%).
In 2025, the volume of work required for the 'on-campus activity' was reduced from four medications reviews to two.
Source: Unit coordinator reflection
The inclusion of an 'important resources' tab on the Moodle page, including links to eMIMS, Australian Medicines Handbook, Therapeutic Guidelines, and Therapeutic Goods Administration, was useful to orientate students to these important databases.
It is recommended that an 'important resources tab' continues to be implemented on the Moodle page for this unit.
In Progress
Source: Informal student feedback
Repetition has been identified between pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics content between BMSC13010 and PODI13015, and this content could be consolidated in PODI13015.
It is recommended that the scaffolding of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics content between BMSC13010 and PODI13015 is reviewed, and content consolidated in PODI13015 where appropriate.
In Progress
Source: Staff feedback
In 2025, the National Prescribing Competencies Framework was updated.
It is recommended that 2026 unit materials include reference to the 2025 update of the National Prescribing Competencies Framework.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Summarise the major classes of therapeutic drugs that affect the primary systems of the body, including identifying the barriers to suitable pharmacotherapy, describing the mechanisms of drug action and the potential for drug-to-drug interactions
- Evaluate Schedule 2, 3, 4 and 8 medicines prescribed and administered for the treatment of disease states encountered in the scope of podiatry practice
- Examine legal, ethical and professional responsibilities associated with prescription and administration of medications within podiatry
- Develop an anaesthetic plan based on a physical examination that includes: appropriate drug selection; correct dose calculation; appropriate method of drug administration; and other supportive care
- Integrate an evidence based approach in pharmacological practice within podiatry.
Per NPC1303
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) | • | • | |||
| 2 - On-campus Activity | • | • | • | ||
| 3 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | • | • | • |
| 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 | • | • | • | • | • |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |