You will access a series of professionally produced instructional videos demonstrating pregnancy, post‑partum and paediatric history‑taking, physical examinations, and treatment procedures. These videos feature experienced chiropractors who clearly narrate their clinical reasoning and demonstrate safe, patient‑appropriate modifications. You are required to engage with these videos as part of your reflective assessment, as they provide the foundational clinical knowledge and confidence needed when entering the pregnancy and paediatrics module and associated workshops.

After viewing the assigned instructional videos, please write a 400 word reflection that responds to the prompts below. Your response must reference specific, identifiable moments from the videos (exact actions, wording, positioning, supportive aids, sequencing). Generic responses or content that doesn’t clearly link to the videos won’t meet the task requirements.

Prompts (respond to all):

1. The Shift in Understanding (100 words)
Identify one specific moment (an action or exact verbal cue) that changed or challenged a previous assumption you held. Describe exactly what occurred (e.g., the clinician’s words, hand placement, sequence, timing). State the assumption you held and how this moment shifted your understanding.

2. The Narrated Rationale (100 words)
What specific clinical reasoning did the clinician verbalise that you hadn’t previously considered? Quote or closely paraphrase their rationale. Explain precisely how this changes your execution of that skill in an OSCE (e.g., setup, safety check, dosage, cueing, sequence).

3. The Modification Audit (100 words)
Evaluate one modification made for patient comfort/safety (e.g., supportive aid, positioning, pacing, language framing). Is this feasible in a standard clinic (given typical equipment/time), or does it require specialised resources? Justify your answer and state how you would implement an equivalent if resources are limited.

4. The Clinical Gap (100 words)
Identify one moment that felt surprising or confronting. Why did it stand out? Name one specific physical skill you need to practise before the face‑to‑face workshop, and outline how you will practise it (e.g., lab practice with peer/infant mannequin, checklist, number of reps, feedback source).

Academic Integrity Note: This task requires detail only visible in this unit’s videos. Submissions without concrete video‑specific references are non‑compliant.

Level 1 (No AI). You must not use AI at any point during this assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge.

Minimum pass mark: 50%

A rubric will be available in Moodle. Your reflection will be marked on how specifically and accurately you engage with the video content, and how well you translate the clinicians’ narrated reasoning into practical/ready actions. You’ll also be assessed on your ability to critically evaluate a modification, identify your own clinical skill gap, and present a clear, feasible practice plan—demonstrating that the video learning can be directly applied to real clinical performance.

You will be provided with one pregnancy case study for this assignment.  Briefly, patient is a 25-year-old primigravida (32 weeks gestation) presenting with 8/10 dull, central lumbosacral ache and secondary thoracolumbar stiffness. Full case will be available in Moodle

You will combine lecture, tutorial, podcast and other relevant literature, you will reflect on the management of this special population. This assignment should be no longer than 500 words (+/- 10%). Approximately 125 word per question.

Mandatory: you must provide at least one citation per section from the peer-reviewed literature. Made up, incorrect or missing references will not be accepted. The fours questions related to this case include:

1) Manual therapy and the "pain generator" (125 words)

Select one joint-based and one soft-tissue technique (including specific segments/muscles). For this patient specifically explain why you are prioritizing the asymptomatic T11–T12 stiffness over the 8/10 L5–S1 pain. Once you have justified your explanation, please name one manual technique you are ruling out specifically due to her 32-week status and "abdominal stretching" pain.
 

2) The Extension Paradox - Rehab (125 words)

Prescribe two exercises for sitting intolerance and night pain. You must also reconcile her "excessive lumbar curve" with the exam finding that spinal extension provided relief - why is extension indicated here despite her posture? Additionally, please identify one standard core/back exercise you have banned for this patient and explain the physiological risk (e.g., Diastasis Recti or intra-abdominal pressure).
 

3) Nutrition & Referral Scope (125 words)

Suggest one nutritional (or hydration) strategy targeting her fatigue and night-time muscle aches. Moreover, please name two substances (foods/supplements) she must avoid in the 3rd trimester and the specific physiological risk they pose. In addition to this strategy, specify one symptom in this case that warrants an immediate referral back to the obstetrician.
 

4) Lifestyle & Sleep Hygiene (125 words)

Please recommend a workplace cycle or micro-break routine for this receptionist. Also, detail a "no-heat" sleep strategy, so you are replacing her current habit of waking up to heat-packing the pain. Lastly, identify one functional or ROM metric (from her Oswestry or exam) that you expect to see improve within 7 days.

Rubric will be available in Moodle

Level 1 (No AI). You must not use AI at any point during this assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge.

Please refer to rubric in Moodle.

Your response will be marked on how accurately you apply pregnancy‑specific clinical reasoning across manual therapy, exercise selection, nutrition/referral, and lifestyle planning, demonstrating that you can translate the case findings into safe, evidence‑supported decisions. You’ll be assessed on your ability to justify what you choose, what you rule out, how you reconcile exam findings with physiological constraints, and how clearly you link each recommendation to the patient’s trimester, symptom behaviour, and functional goals.

You will be required to attend three 4-hour practical sessions that will include learning how to assess and manage paediatric and pregnant patients. During the session you will be required to actively participate, and at the completion, you will be asked (in a small group) to demonstrate practical skills related to (i) a paediatric patient (i.e., demonstrating touch and hold palpation to the spine) and (ii) for a pregnant patient (i.e., demonstrating modified and safe adjustive procedures for the spine). This is a Pass/Fail task that will take place on the Friday of weeks 11 and 12. If students are unsuccessful in this Pass/Fail task they will be unable to complete the unit successfully.

Level 1 (No AI). You must not use AI at any point during this assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge.

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

You will be required to demonstrate practical skills related to:

(i) a paediatric patient (i.e., demonstrating touch and hold palpation to the spine) and

(ii) for a pregnant patient (i.e., demonstrating modified and safe adjustive procedures for the spine). 

The final end of term (online) test will be in the format of an multiple choice questions, short answer, matching and true or false quiz to assess your knowledge and understanding of the lecture and tutorial components of paediatric conditions and related material presented through weeks 7-12 inclusive. Students will be required to demonstrate this by selecting the one best answer. You will be allowed one attempt for the quiz, which will need to be completed within the allotted time frame. This quiz is worth 50% of the final grade. In the absence of an approved extension, there will be no opportunity to complete the task after the assigned date.

Level 1 (No AI). You must not use AI at any point during this assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge.

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

You should be able to demonstrate as specified in the learning outcomes:

1. understanding of the relationship between anatomy, aetiology, pathophysiology, diagnoses and treatment options of conditions seen in the paediatric population (neonate to adolescent).

2. understanding of the physiological processes associated with the pregnant patient and childbirth.

3. understanding of the relationship between anatomy, aetiology, pathophysiology, diagnoses and treatment options of conditions seen with the pregnant patient.

4. interpret findings from history and physical examination of paediatric and obstetrical patients.

The expectation is that you answer questions without the assistance of Generative AI tools.

Minimum pass mark: 50%