During this assessment students will work in pairs to present a recent, high impact journal article (last 3 years) within the discipline of diagnostic microbiology to the class on the final day of the residential school.  The presentation will incorporate information regarding aims, methods, outcomes and relevance to provide context to the paper's contribution to both the literature and to microbiology as a whole.

The 72-hour grace period does not apply to this assessment.

Level of GenAI use allowed:  Level 2: You may use AI for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show how you have
developed and refined these ideas.

Students will work in pairs to prepare a 10 minute journal club presentation using a high impact paper in the field of microbiology from the past 3 years.  The presentation will provide:

• Introduce the topic of the chosen paper and cover the background material in sufficient detail to allow the audience to understand the entirety of the presented material (10 marks).
• Provides a detailed overview of the aims and hypotheses of the chosen paper (10 marks).
• Discuss the methods and the key outcome measures used with a description of why these measures were chosen (10 marks). 
• Provide a detailed explanation of the study outcomes and provide a strong reflection on how these outcomes met/did not meet the study aims (15 marks).
• Provide a thoughtful analysis of the study’s impact on the field of microbiology and/or clinical diagnostics.  Demonstrate the magnitude of this impact to the audience in a clear and concise way that allows them to understand the position of the research within the literature (25 marks).  
• Provide realistic and informed options for future research and/or how this current research could be impact laboratory diagnostics in human health (10 marks)
• Presentation (10 marks).  
• Contribution to presentation (10 marks).

As per academic writing requirements and assessment criteria; citations of information should be of the primary source (i.e statistics returned by AI must be fact-checked and referenced from their original source as well as the AI source). Failure to cite primary sources as well as AI sources could be considered breach of academic integrity.

This unit has a compulsory 3-day residential school that runs on the Rockhampton North Campus.  Students will undertake the laboratory analysis of case studies in clinical microbiology, designed to mimic true diagnostic microbiology laboratory cases. Students will be required to document their observations and findings in a laboratory workbook which will be provided on the Unit Moodle Site.  Assessment for this task will be through the submission of student's laboratory workbooks. Criteria for the workbook assessment will also be available through Moodle.

The 72-hour grace period does not apply to this assessment.

Level of GenAI use allowed:  Level 1: You must not use AI at any point during the assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge.

Students will be assessed on their practicals skills including staining, biochemical testing and rapid testing techniques and assessed using through submission of their laboratory workbook.  Students require a total score of 50% on their workbook submission to achieve a pass grade.

This assessment is an opportunity to research in further detail the application of assays based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) for specific bacterial pathogen detection in terms of diagnostic technology.

The application of these two assays to the clinical microbiology laboratory has revolutionized diagnosis in terms of speed and enhanced specificity. In this assessment you will choose one group of clinically significant bacteria for example, Staphylococci, Streptococci, Salmonella, E. coli, Pseudomonas (A complete list will be available on the Moodle site) and complete a 2500 word literature review on the application of PCR and MALDI-TOF technology in detection of these pathogens.

You will also be required to provide a background on the pathogenicity of your chosen bacterium and on the technical development of PCR and MALDI-TOF, providing an assessment of their diagnostic utility for the identification of your chosen organism in diagnostic pathology.

To achieve this you will need to:

1: Choose a specific bacterium from a list of clinically relevant bacteria which will be available on the Moodle site. If you are unsure of the suitability of your choice for this assessment, please consult with the unit coordinator. A comprehensive explanation of the defining features of each of the bacteria will be available through the learning materials provided during Week 2.

2: Research the literature relevant to your chosen bacterium. Scientific journal articles should form the basis for this literature search.

3: Prepare a 2500 literature review summarizing the application of both PCR and MALDI-TOF in detection of the bacterium protein, with appropriate citation to your sources of literature.

Level of GenAI use allowed:  Level 2: You may use AI for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show how you have
developed and refined these ideas.

Provide a succinct introduction of the chosen microorganism and both techniques, covering all aspects relevant to both the disease/s and the organism responsible.  Cover all important aspects of the organisms pathogenicity including major virulence factors, toxins etc. Provide a succinct description of the selected studies including the methods used, the results obtained. Analyse and contextualise the results and quality assurance data presented. Provide a conclusion that provides a detailed comparison of both techniques including a thoughtful discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of both assays when compared to both each other and to both standard culture techniques and other assays used in diagnostic microbiology laboratories.