PODI13015 - Advanced Pharmacology for Podiatry Practice

General Information

Unit Synopsis

The unit will be divided into two main components: pharmacotherapeutics and anaesthesia specific to podiatry practice. In pharmacotherapeutics you will gain understanding of schedule 2, 3, 4 and 8 medicines administered in common diseases seen in podiatry practice and learn further of their role in 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 technique 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 2 - 2022

Term 2 - 2022 Profile
Rockhampton
Sydney
Term 2 - 2023 Profile
Rockhampton
Term 2 - 2024 Profile
Rockhampton

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. Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) 30%
2. Written Assessment 20%
3. Take Home Exam 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%).

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

No previous feedback available

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: Staff discussion and reflection.
Feedback
Whilst an in-depth knowledge of pharmacology is gained and a podiatry specialist is engaged to do some teaching in this unit, more relevance could be provided from a clinical podiatry point of view.
Recommendation
In future deliveries of this unit, it is recommended that students complete a series of case studies relevant to the prescription of scheduled medicines in podiatry practice. This will increase the relevance of the content to provide students more exposure to the endorsement process should they choose to pursue this pathway.
Action Taken
A series of case studies was used during lectures and tutorials to assist students to appreciate the relevance of the content of the unit delivered as well as assist with applying knowledge into the clinical setting.
Source: Student feedback.
Feedback
It was great learning from experts in the field with plenty of real-world experience.
Recommendation
A podiatric surgeon who is endorsed to prescribe scheduled medicines and a pharmacist were engaged to provide specialist teaching into this unit. As this unit contains specialised content, it is recommended that industry content experts continue to teach this unit.
Action Taken
A podiatric surgeon continued to be involved in the teaching and learning of this unit during lectures and tutorials.
Source: Lecturer's self-reflection
Feedback
This Year 3 Term 2 unit requires students to have a good foundation in basic pharmaco-dynamics and kinetics which was covered previously in BMSC13010 Pharmacology in Year 2 Term 1. Students who did not revise the content struggled with the new content being taught in this unit.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the unit coordinator remind students to revise the content from BMSC13010 Pharmacology, in order to prepare for this unit.
Action Taken
Nil.
Source: Lecturer's self-reflection
Feedback
Having a podiatry surgeon teach into this unit was highly relevant. However, the surgeon was more proficient in teaching the clinically applied and relevant content, and not the pharmaco-dynamic and kinetic content, which was more theoretical. It would be more appropriate for a pharmacologist to cover this portion.
Recommendation
It is recommended that a pharmacologist be engaged to guest lecture for this unit to assist with the pharmacology-related content, with a podiatry surgeon to assist with content related to scheduled medication for podiatrist use.
Action Taken
Nil.
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. 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
  2. Evaluate schedule 2, 3, 4 and 8 medicines prescribed and administered for the treatment of disease states encountered in the scope of podiatry practice
  3. Examine legal, ethical and professional responsibilities associated with prescription and administration of medications within podiatry
  4. 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
  5. Integrate an evidence based approach in pharmacological practice within podiatry.

Per NPC1303

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) • •
2 - Written Assessment • • •
3 - Take Home Exam • • • • •
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
1 - Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) • • • • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • • • • •
3 - Take Home Exam • • • • • • •