Overview
This capstone unit will provide you with an opportunity to examine and critique current health practices issues prior to your entry into the Medical Laboratory Science professional workforce. Your study will focus on the contemporary legislative, social and economic trends in the Australian Pathology profession that will impact on your practice. You will be required to exhibit ethical decision-making and clinical/professional reasoning at a graduate level, in preparation for practice.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisites: BMSC13001 Advanced Haematology AND BMSC13002 Advanced Clinical Biochemistry AND BMSC13003 Medical Microbiology 2 AND BMSC13009 Immunology OR BMSC13023 Applied Immunology AND BMSC13010 Pharmacology AND BMSC13011 Advanced Transfusion Science AND BMSC13016 Advanced Histopathology and Cytopathology
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).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2024
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.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
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.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
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.
Feedback from Emails
Due to the transition from one unit coordinator to another mid-term created some delay in response to emails
Attempt to provide only one unit coordinator per term. In this case, the change in unit coordinator was unforeseen, and the replacement Unit Coordinator ensured the students were abreast of the situation
Feedback from Self-reflection & SUTE
Assessment items were structured well; scaffolding assessments worked well for the students, allowing them to defend their written work via an interactive oral
This assessment structure will be maintained for future offerings.
- Apply knowledge of legal, economic and ethical issues that impact the provision of health care services and best practice in Medical Laboratory Science
- Investigate the current trends in the provision of professional services to rural/remote and regional Australia
- Discuss the principles underlying effective leadership and communication skills in health care settings, demonstrating cultural safety
- Discuss current Australian Standards for laboratory accreditation and how these impact on service delivery in rural/remote and regional Australia
- Discuss the role of a Medical Laboratory Scientist in the Safety and Risk Management framework in healthcare.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Reflective Practice Assignment - 20% | |||||
| 2 - Portfolio - 40% | |||||
| 3 - Oral Examination - 40% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| 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 | |||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Zoom (both microphone and webcam capability)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing styles below:
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
g.burchall@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Ethics, Professional Conduct, Privacy & Confidentiality and Freedom of Information
Chapter
e-Reading List on Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial - Introduction
Module/Topic
Cultural Awareness, Equal Opportunities, Anti-discrimination and Anti-Bullying
Chapter
e-Reading List on Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial - covering Week 1
Module/Topic
Accreditation - NATA, ISO & IATA (ISO15189/AS4308:2008/AS/NZS 4760:2019) and TGA - Rob White
Chapter
e-Reading List on Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial - covering Week 2
Module/Topic
Competency Standards, Continuing Professional Development, Professional Memberships and Certification of Medical Scientists - Wayne Pederick
Chapter
e-Reading List on Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial - covering Week 3
Module/Topic
Quality Control, Quality Assurance & Total Quality Management, Risk Management and Customer Service & Complaint Resolution - Rob White
Chapter
e-Reading List on Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial - covering Week 4
Module/Topic
No Lecture this week.
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
N/A
Module/Topic
Budgets & Finance, Medicare - the Medicare Benefits Scheme & Private Health Insurance - Rob White
Chapter
e-Reading List on Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial - covering Week 5
Reflective Practice Due: Week 6 Friday (19 Apr 2024) 11:59 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Workplace Health & Safety, Incident Reporting & Investigation, Root Cause Analysis and Corrective & Preventative Action - Wayne Pederick
Chapter
e-Reading List on Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial - covering Week 6
Module/Topic
Human Resources 1 - Teamwork, Leadership & Conflict Resolution - Rob White
Chapter
e-Reading List on Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial - covering Week 7
Module/Topic
Human Resources 2 - Recruitment & Performance Management; Awards & EBA and Disciplinary Action - Rob White
Chapter
e-Reading List on Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial - covering Week 8
Portfolio of work Due: Week 9 Wednesday (8 May 2024) 11:59 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Technology - Automation, LIS, interfacing, report formats, TeleHealth / Tele-Medicine, Videoconferencing, virtual microscopy - Wayne Pederick
Chapter
e-Reading List on Moodle
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial - covering Week 9
Module/Topic
Revision
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial - covering Week 10
Module/Topic
Preparation for End of Term Interactive Oral Exam
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Tutorial - Revision & Preparation for Interactive Oral Exam
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
The Unit Coordinator and teaching staff for this Unit is Genia Burchall who can be contacted by e-mail (g.burchall@cqu.edu.au) or via the Moodle forums.
Lectures will all be pre-recorded in smaller 'modules' and will be posted on the Moodle page.
There are weekly Tutorials/ Q&A sessions that will be linked to Zoom, and the Tutorials are also recorded and posted in Moodle.
There is no prescribed textbook for this unit.
A number of readings will be suggested or made available to you as resource materials for this unit.
As per Australian educational standards, you are expected to commit 150 hours of engagement to your study of this unit. This is broken down as:
2 - 3 hours per week watching recorded lectures and revising the content through study notes
3 - 4 hours per week completing the weekly study questions on the unit's Moodle page
1 - 2 hours per week attending the weekly tutorial and reflecting on your answers to the weekly study questions
3 - 4 hours per week preparing your assessments or studying for your end of term test
1 Reflective Practice Assignment
You are required to reflect upon your previous clinical placements (Work Integrated Learning) and how the role of the Medical Scientists were guided by the legal, economic and ethical framework and how they displayed effective leadership and communication skills in the execution of their role. You may also reflect upon the process of laboratory accreditation and workplace health and safety and how they guided practice.
Week 6 Friday (19 Apr 2024) 11:59 pm AEST
Upload assignment to Moodle
Week 8 Friday (3 May 2024)
Marked assignments will be posted to Moodle
A marking guide for the reflective practice item will be made available on the Moodle page.
- Apply knowledge of legal, economic and ethical issues that impact the provision of health care services and best practice in Medical Laboratory Science
- Discuss current Australian Standards for laboratory accreditation and how these impact on service delivery in rural/remote and regional Australia
- Discuss the role of a Medical Laboratory Scientist in the Safety and Risk Management framework in healthcare.
2 Portfolio
A number of case studies will be provided during the term. You are required to submit your responses to four of these cases as a portfolio of work.
Topics for the case studies may include Quality Management, Personnel Management, Professional Development, Legislation and the Regulatory Framework of Pathology, Workplace Health and Safety and Emerging Technology in Pathology.
They may also include examples of practices in Medical Laboratory Science that were controversial for discussion.
Week 9 Wednesday (8 May 2024) 11:59 pm AEST
Upload assignment to Moodle
Week 11 Wednesday (22 May 2024)
Marked assignments will be posted to Moodle
A marking Guide for this assessment will be provided on the Moodle page.
- Investigate the current trends in the provision of professional services to rural/remote and regional Australia
- Discuss the principles underlying effective leadership and communication skills in health care settings, demonstrating cultural safety
- Discuss the role of a Medical Laboratory Scientist in the Safety and Risk Management framework in healthcare.
3 Oral Examination
In the oral exam I will pose ~4 questions, each based on your answers in Assessments 1 & 2 to further assess your understanding of the topics discussed.
I expect that the discussion should take between 30 and 40 minutes and you will be provided with an opportunity to have a 'practice run' at the oral examination prior to the actual exam if required and feedback will be provided.
More details regarding the date, time and structure of the oral exam will be provided on Moodle.
The exact day and time to be negotiated with each individual student.
The grades will be finalised by the Certification of Grades
Each question will be graded out of 100 and an average will be the final mark for the assessment.
Your answers will be assessed on Relevance (50 marks), Coherence (40 marks) and Overall organisation, expression and flow (10 marks).
A detailed marking rubric will be provided on the Moodle page.
- Apply knowledge of legal, economic and ethical issues that impact the provision of health care services and best practice in Medical Laboratory Science
- Discuss the principles underlying effective leadership and communication skills in health care settings, demonstrating cultural safety
- Discuss current Australian Standards for laboratory accreditation and how these impact on service delivery in rural/remote and regional Australia
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
