Overview
This is the first of four work integrated learning placements in your course. This enables you to apply the knowledge, skills and behaviours that you will have developed in the pre-clinical simulation environment in prerequisite units. You will be placed at a clinical diagnostic imaging facility for eight weeks of fulltime clinical experience. You will work under the guidance and mentorship of clinical radiographers to perform radiography in a professional and effective manner and become a useful member of the imaging team. Your performance focus will be on general radiography examinations of non-complex patients. You will undergo assessments of your clinical performance of imaging examinations previously learned in the academic environment. You will also be assessed on your professional behaviours and attributes. You will apply reflective practice to support your skill development.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisites: MPAT12001 Medical Pathophysiology MEDI12002 Imaging Science 2 MEDI12005 Imaging Science 3 MEDI12009 Radiographic Anatomy and Appearances 1 MEDI12010 Radiographic Anatomy and Appearances 2 MEDI12003 Imaging Procedures 1 MEDI12006 Imaging Procedures 2. This unit must have been completed within the last 6 months. Should this time limit be exceeded, the student must undergo a period of skills revision as determined by the Head of Course and successfully complete skills assessments to demonstrate currency of professional skills.
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 3 - 2025
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 12-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.
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.
- Employ interpersonal skills in accordance with CQUniversity's graduate attributes and the profession's Code of Conduct
- Reflect on your performance on an ongoing basis to integrate new learning and experiences with the goal of improving your practice
- Critique radiographs for technical sufficiency and formulation of quality improvement strategies where indicated
- Use radiation and imaging equipment safely and effectively
- Perform routine radiographic examinations accurately, safely and effectively on non-complex patients at the advanced beginner stage of clinical competence
- Participate within your scope of practice as a useful member of the clinical medical imaging team.
This unit maps to the following components of the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia's Professional Capabilities for Medical Radiation Practice (2019 version):
- Domain 1: Medical radiation practitioner: capabilities 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7
- Domain 1A: Diagnostic radiographer: capability 1
- Domain 2: Professional and ethical practitioner: capabilities 1 and 2
- Domain 3: Communicator and collaborator: capabilities 1 and 2
- Domain 4: Evidence-informed practitioner: capabilities 1 and 2
- Domain 5: Radiation safety and risk manager: capabilities 1 and 2
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Professional Practice Placement - 0% | ||||||
| 2 - Learning logs / diaries / Journal / log books - 0% | ||||||
| 3 - Direct observation of procedural skills (DOPs) - 0% | ||||||
| 4 - Practical Assessment - 0% | ||||||
| 5 - Reflective Practice Assignment - 0% | ||||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 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)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Vancouver
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
s.wooldridge@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Clinical Placement Week 1
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
- Site orientation and induction
- Complete Week 1 logbook and upload within 3 days of the last rostered shift for the week (along with all forms for any performance assessments attempted this week).
- Complete 'wellness' survey by the end of Week 1.
Module/Topic
Clinical Placement Week 2
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
- Complete Week 2 logbook and upload within 3 days of the last rostered shift for the week (along with all forms for any performance assessments attempted this week).
Module/Topic
Clinical Placement Week 3
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
- Complete Week 3 logbook and upload within 3 days of the last rostered shift for the week (along with all forms for any performance assessments attempted this week).
- First GAPA to be completed this week and uploaded within 3 days of the last rostered shift for the week.
- Complete 'wellness' survey by the end of Week 3.
- Reflection Assessment Part A is due by 8pm AEST Sunday at end of Week 3.
Module/Topic
Clinical Placement Week 4
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
- Complete Week 4 logbook and upload within 3 days of the last rostered shift for the week (along with all forms for any performance assessments attempted this week).
Module/Topic
Clinical Placement Week 5
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
- Complete Week 5 logbook and upload within 3 days of the last rostered shift for the week (along with all forms for any performance assessments attempted this week).
- Complete 'wellness' survey by the end of Week 5.
Module/Topic
Clinical Placement Week 6
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
- Complete Week 6 logbook and upload within 3 days of the last rostered shift for the week (along with all forms for any performance assessments attempted this week).
Module/Topic
Clinical Placement Week 7
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
- Complete Week 7 logbook and upload within 3 days of the last rostered shift for the week (along with all forms for any performance assessments attempted this week).
- All Performance Assessments must be completed and submitted by the end of Week 7.
- Complete 'wellness' survey by the end of Week 7.
Module/Topic
Clinical Placement Week 8
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
- Complete Week 8 logbook and upload within 3 days of the last rostered shift for the week.
- Final GAPA to be completed in your final week and uploaded within 3 days of the last rostered shift for the week.
- Reflection Assessment Part B is due by 4pm AEST Tuesday 6th January 2026.
This unit is an 7 week 2 day full-time clinical (Work Integrated Learning or WIL) placement, commencing on Monday 27th October 2025, which is university vacation week in between the standard Term 2 and Term 3 calendar. Full attendance of this clinical placement is 7 weeks 2 days. Some students may have placement start/end dates that differ from the standard scheduled start/end dates of the placement.
You will have been allocated a specific clinical site (or sites) to attend for the placement. The clinical site/s will provide the range and quantity of imaging procedures to support your achievement of the unit learning outcomes and support your completion of clinical assessments. You will be rostered by your clinical supervisor to attend at the variety of shift times and in a variety of work areas within the site/s.
All students scheduled to attend placement will be required to complete the pre-clinical induction session at Mackay-Ooralea campus, timetabled during the preceding imaging procedure unit (MEDI12006). All mandatory pre-clinical placement compliance checks must be submitted by the due dates as listed on the Sonia website.
During placement, you will require regular computer and internet access, use of Microsoft Office software and document scanning technology in order to complete assessment requirements. Clinical sites do not provide computer or internet access, so it is your responsibility to ensure regular access to the technology needed to upload your assessment files by the submission due dates.
The unit teaching team will monitor your clinical progress through review of your weekly logbook, clinical assessments and bi-weekly 'wellness' surveys. In Weeks 1, 3, 5 and 7, you will complete a 'wellness' survey allowing you to check-in with your unit coordinator to periodically notify them of your well-being and any issues that may be arising throughout your placement. Students are also encouraged to use the Q&A and Discussion Forums for general queries and comments, or to contact the unit coordinator directly (by email) for any queries or concerns related to your placement.
The Unit Coordinator for this clinical placement unit is - Sarah Wooldridge. The preferred method of contact is via email s.wooldridge@cqu.edu.au.
1 Professional Practice Placement
Staff workplace attendance and the ability to participate in rosters are critical to the success and morale of a medical imaging team, and therefore the quality of patient care provided by that team.
This unit is part of a professionally accredited course with significant Work Integrated Learning components. For this unit you must attend 7 weeks 2 days of full-time clinical placement or the equivalent number of days through an approved alternative scheduling arrangement. The placement location(s) and timing have been arranged by the course in order to provide sufficient learning and assessment opportunities for you to meet the unit learning outcomes.
You are required to achieve 100% attendance. This is defined as attending all hours relative to the quantity of time that you have been rostered by your clinical supervisor to achieve 7 weeks 2 days of full-time placement, minus any exceptional absence that is approved by both your clinical supervisor and unit coordinator. (Exceptional absence is separate from allocated personal leave days as discussed below.) You are not required to attend on any public holidays that fall within your rostered weeks, nor are you required to make up those days. If your allocated placement site terminates your placement due to your behavioural issues, as per the University’s Work Integrated Learning policy, you will not be provided any further placement for the unit. This will result in a Fail grade for the unit.
Your rostering, including daily start and end times, is determined by the clinical supervisor of the allocated placement site. The roster depends on the scheduling of imaging procedures that are relevant to your educational requirements, the typical hours of operation of the clinical facility and availability of sufficient supervision. You should not expect the roster to be modified to suit your personal life. You are not permitted to work extra shifts back to back in order to reduce the duration of clinical placement.
If you need to be absent for a part or full day of placement, you must inform both your clinical supervisor and unit coordinator as soon as possible, preferably in advance of the missed time. There are three allocated personal leave days during this placement. You are not required to take this leave, but you do have the flexibility to use the three personal leave days as a single 3 day-long block or as a combination of single or multiple days. If you use any leave days in Weeks 1-7, then you will attend your full scheduled 8th week. If you have not used any leave in Weeks 1-7, then Week 7 day 2 is your final day of the placement.
Personal leave days may only be taken with the explicit approval of your clinical supervisor, and any leave days taken will add to the length of your clinical placement. Your personal leave days must be used for missed time due to illness, injury, caregiver responsibilities or other personal reasons for missing placement. Use the leave application form on the unit Moodle site to seek the approval of your clinical supervisor and upload the completed form to Moodle.
All unapproved absences must be made up. Any time to be made up is to be scheduled at the convenience of the clinical site and approved by your supervisor. This may result in extension of the work day or work week. Note that not all facilities have extended hours of operation, so opportunities to make up time are site-dependent. If you attend outside of your normally rostered hours (e.g. late day, evening or weekend), you must still be under direct supervision and working within your scope of practice, and the caseload anticipated by your supervisor must be such that the time would provide useful learning experience.
For any time missed beyond the three personal leave days, you may apply for special consideration of the missed time to the unit coordinator by providing supporting documentation. This may impact the quantity of time you are required to make up. Note that only in exceptional circumstances will any missed time be waived.
You must document your attendance relative to your rostered time each week in the weekly logbook file. The record must be accurate and complete. You must include any episodes of absence including scheduled leave days, lateness or early departure in the comments section.
The 72-hour grace period does not apply to this assessment.
AI scale for this task: 1 No AI. You must not use AI at any point during the assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge.
Document weekly attendance in logbook and upload within 3 calendar days of the last rostered shift of the week.
Weekly attendance will be reviewed by the unit coordinator, who will follow up within 5 working days of the log upload on any absences or incomplete attendance records.
To obtain a score of Pass for this assessment, you must:
- complete 100% attendance as defined above,
- have documented all attendance accurately and completely in your weekly log, and
- have submitted each week's completed log file within 3 days of the last rostered shift of the week.
At the end of the scheduled 8 weeks of placement:
- if you have not met the 100% attendance requirement (7 weeks 2 days) AND you do have documented justifiable grounds for your absence, you will be provided additional scheduled time to make up the time you have missed. This scheduled make-up time may not be immediately following the scheduled placement, and/or may not be at the same placement site, depending on clinical availability.
- if you have not met the 100% attendance requirement (7 weeks 2 days) AND you do not have documented justifiable grounds for the absence, you will score 'Fail' for this assessment item.
- Employ interpersonal skills in accordance with CQUniversity's graduate attributes and the profession's Code of Conduct
- Participate within your scope of practice as a useful member of the clinical medical imaging team.
2 Learning logs / diaries / Journal / log books
The clinical logbook serves as a record of your depth and breadth of experience attained during the placement. It demonstrates the degree of progression of your skill development within and across procedure types. You should use this record to inform your reflection on learning and in formulating weekly learning goals that will support achievement of the unit outcomes.
You must record in the electronic log tool (the Excel spreadsheet file provided on the unit Moodle site) a weekly listing of every imaging procedure in which you participate. Your level of involvement in each procedure is to be categorised as observed, assisted or performed, using the definitions provided. There are no minimum or maximum target numbers for any category of involvement, nor are there target numbers for any examination type.
- Observed: You must have watched the radiographer(s) carry out the procedure, and your involvement in the case has been limited to an occasional task assigned by someone else.
- Assisted in: You have been an integral member of the imaging team that is led by a radiographer, and you have carried out many tasks to support the completion of the procedure. You may have carried out all imaging tasks but were provided significant guidance and direction by your supervising radiographer.
- Performed: You have planned and carried out the imaging procedure with occasional guidance, assistance and/or direction provided by your supervising radiographer.
For general radiographic procedures you must also categorise the patient by type:
- Basic: The patient has no significant limitation in their ability to carry out your instructions, and the procedure involves only standard views/projections that do not require significant customisation to the patient's condition.
- Complex: The patient's condition is such that you must significantly modify your approach (patient care and/or technical tasks) to carrying out the procedure relative to the requirements for a 'basic' patient. This includes patients with minor traumatic injuries.
- Paediatric: The patient is a child who is young enough to require you to modify your approach (patient care and/or technical tasks) to carrying out the procedure relative to a 'basic' patient.
- Trauma: The patient has major traumatic injury/injuries requiring significant modification to your approach (patient care and/or technical tasks).
All information is to be recorded in such a way as to maintain patient confidentiality.
You must log any performance assessments you have attempted, whether passed or failed. All completed assessment forms are an extension of your log documentation, as they provide further evidence of your clinical learning experiences. Performance assessment documentation must include the patient type (basic vs complex).
You must also log other clinical learning activities. This includes facility induction and orientation, any meetings, image critique sessions or other feedback/learning activities with your clinical supervisor or other clinical educator. The facility induction and orientation must be completed by your second day of placement and logged in your logbook. If you have not completed a site induction/orientation by the end of the second day of placement, see your clinical educator/site supervisor and contact your unit coordinator to advise.
In addition to noting imaging procedures and performance assessments, your logbook must have a minimum of 3 notation entries each week. This could include documentation of other clinical learning activities or explanation of types of x-rays, scans, patients, scenarios or helpful tips that you encountered throughout the week.
The weekly log is a multi-sheet Excel workbook with built-in calculations to track your progress during the unit. You must follow the log instructions provided on the unit Moodle site and within the log to ensure that tracking calculations are correct. You must use Microsoft Excel for data entry and save the file in its native Excel file format. This same master file must be updated weekly, so that each week’s submission is a cumulative record of all weeks containing a running tally of examinations and assessments.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have regular access to the technology needed to complete the spreadsheet each week. If you have a technical issue or personal circumstances that prevent you from being able to accurately complete and upload your file by the standard due dates, you MUST inform the unit coordinator and provide just cause by the due date to obtain approval for an assessment extension. In the absence of an approved extension, your failure to meet the weekly upload due date will result in a Fail for this assessment item. If you have more than two incidents of either missing the due date and/or having your logbook returned to you for correction due to inaccuracy or incompleteness, you will fail this assessment task.
The 72-hour grace period does not apply to this assessment.
AI scale for this task: 1 No AI. You must not use AI at any point during the assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge.
MRPBA Professional Capabilities and NSQHS Standards
This assessment task maps to the following MRPBA Professional Capabilities (2020):
- MRPBA Domain 1A, Key Capability 1
Logbook must be uploaded each week, within 3 calendar days of the last rostered shift of the week.
Unit Coordinator will follow up within 5 working days of upload for any log entries that require further information or to discuss any areas of concern.
The logbook is graded on a Pass/Fail basis. The logbook is assessed on accuracy and completeness of information entered and on timeliness of submissions.
If any week's upload have noticeable gaps, errors or omissions, you will be given one week to correct and resubmit that week's log.
To obtain a score of Pass for this assessment, you must:
- ensure that your logbook is complete and accurate in regards to your attendance, your participation in imaging procedures, assessments you have attempted, as well as supervisor meetings and/or other educational activities,
- ensure the integrity of the file format of the logbook is maintained, and
- meet the stated standards of documentation completeness and timeliness, such that you have no more than two incidents in total of incompleteness or lateness.
- Perform routine radiographic examinations accurately, safely and effectively on non-complex patients at the advanced beginner stage of clinical competence
- Participate within your scope of practice as a useful member of the clinical medical imaging team.
3 Direct observation of procedural skills (DOPs)
During the 7 weeks 2 days of clinical experience, you are expected to further develop proficiency in general radiography of the axial and appendicular skeleton (including craniofacial structures), chest and abdomen.
Once you have performed a given examination type multiple times and are able to carry it out with a moderate amount of guidance and correction from the supervising radiographer (refer to table below in Assessment Criteria section), you are to request an assessment in that examination type. Performance assessments may be conducted by your clinical supervisor or a radiographer designated as an assessor by your supervisor. The assessor will observe you as you perform the radiographic examination. Your assessor will use the assessment tool provided on the unit Moodle site to document the level of independence, completeness and correctness you have demonstrated in each of the required tasks. The assessment is formative as well as summative in that it provides you with feedback on your relative strengths and areas for improvement. Should you not attain the minimum required score, you must create an action plan based on the feedback. Once you have carried out that action plan, you may re-attempt the assessment.
There is no limit to the number of attempts you may make at any performance assessment. However, you must recognise that the clinical site staff's first priority is patient care. Opportunities for assessment are limited by the time available as well as the availability of suitable patients and suitable examinations. You need to take initiative in starting the assessment process in a timely manner in order to ensure you will complete the assessments in the placement time available. If there are extenuating circumstances at the clinical facility that limit your ability to access radiographic examinations to undergo assessments, then you must discuss this with your clinical supervisor AND contact the unit coordinator in a timely manner.
Over the course of the placement, you must pass 6 performance assessments in general radiography. Each assessment must be on an examination of a different anatomical region as described below. You may not, for example, complete an assessment for a wrist and later complete an assessment for an elbow, as these are both categories within the 'upper extremities' anatomical region.
- upper extremities
- lower extremities
- shoulder girdle
- pelvic girdle
- bony thorax
- spine
- chest
- abdomen
- cranio-facial
- dental
You must ensure that each completed assessment form has all required information, including the name, dated signature and MRPBA registration number of your assessor, as well as your dated signature. (Note that both your signature and your assessor's signature must be done on a hard copy document. Digital signatures are not accepted.) If you submit an incomplete form, you will be provided with feedback and will need to resubmit the completed form within one week. This is the case whether you have passed or failed the assessment.
If a radiographer other than your clinical supervisor completes the assessment, it is your responsibility to ensure that your supervisor knows the outcome of each attempted assessment and that they are provided with the original of the completed assessment form. Your supervisor will provide you with a copy of the completed assessment form. You must then scan it and upload each form into the unit Moodle site using the link provided. The form for each attempted assessment, whether passed or not, must be uploaded into Moodle.
Each completed performance assessment form must be uploaded within 3 days of completing the weekly shift in which the assessment was completed, with the final date for completing and submitting all forms by the end of Week 7. Any performance assessments completed after that date will be accepted only with an approved extension from the unit coordinator. If you are unable to meet the stated due dates for uploading your completed form, you MUST inform your unit coordinator and provide just cause by the due date to obtain approval for an assessment extension. In the absence of an approved assessment extension, your failure to meet the weekly upload due date will result in a fail for this assessment item. If you have more than two incidents of either missing the due date and/or having your logbook returned to you for correction due to inaccuracy or incompleteness, you will fail this assessment task.
The 72-hour grace period does not apply to this assessment.
AI scale for this task: 1 No AI. You must not use AI at any point during the assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge.
MRPBA Professional Capabilities and NSQHS Standards
This assessment task maps to the following MRPBA professional Capabilities (2020) and NSQHS Standards (2021):
- MRPBA Domain 1, Key Capability 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7
- MRPBA Domain 1A, Key Capability 1
- MRPBA Domain 2, Key Capability 1, 2, 3, 4
- MRPBA Domain 3, Key Capability 1, 2
- MRPBA Domain 5, Key Capability 1, 2, 3, 4
- NSQHS Standard 2
- NSQHS Standard 3
- NSQHS Standard 6
Each completed performance assessment form must be uploaded within 3 days of completing the weekly shift in which the assessment was completed. The final date for completing and submitting all assessment forms is end of Week 7.
Unit coordinator will review each uploaded assessment form and provide feedback within 5 working days of upload of each item.
You must meet the minimum requirements for all performance assessments. Each performance assessment measures your ability to carry out core tasks of an radiographic imaging procedure. There are 'critical' and 'non-critical' tasks. The assessor will score your observed performance of each task using the 1 - 6 scale, below. The scale is based on quantity of assistance and correction you required to perform each task.
| Score | Descriptor |
| 1 | Unable to complete the task without radiographer intervention |
| 2 | Completed with 3+ assists OR completed with 1 - 2 assists but with 1 - 2 errors |
| 3 | Completed with 2 assists OR completed with 2 errors OR completed with 1 assist and 1 error |
| 4 | Completed with 1 assist OR completed with 1 error |
| 5 | Completed without error and without the need for assistance or reminder (at entry to practice level) |
| 6 | Completed independently and to a high standard (at experienced practitioner level) |
To obtain a score of Pass score on each of the six performance assessments, you must achieve the following scores:
- a minimum score of '5' for critical tasks 1 & 2
- no more than 1 non-critical task scored at '3'
- all remaining non-critical tasks scored at '4' or better
To obtain a score of Pass for this assessment, you must:
- meet the minimum requirements for each assessment, as detailed above in Assessment Criteria,
- ensure that each of the 6 performance assessments are completed on different anatomical regions, as detailed in the Task Description above, and
- meet the stated standards of documentation completeness and timeliness, such that you have no more than two incidents in total of incompleteness or lateness.
- Employ interpersonal skills in accordance with CQUniversity's graduate attributes and the profession's Code of Conduct
- Critique radiographs for technical sufficiency and formulation of quality improvement strategies where indicated
- Use radiation and imaging equipment safely and effectively
- Perform routine radiographic examinations accurately, safely and effectively on non-complex patients at the advanced beginner stage of clinical competence
4 Practical Assessment
Clinical placement occurs in the professional workplace. As a clinical student you are provided access to that workplace on the condition that you demonstrate behaviours and attributes of a healthcare professional, present a positive image to the clinical facility's staff and clients, and comply with site's policies. As a student in a regulated healthcare profession in Australia, you are also required to be working toward consistent compliance with the Profession's Code of Conduct. As a CQUniversity student you must also meet the General Behavioural Requirements of the Student Behavioural Misconduct Procedure and refrain from misconduct as described in that Procedure.
Assessment process:
Your clinical supervisor will be working in the imaging areas with you, directly observing your day-to-day performance, and/or obtaining feedback from supervising radiographers who are doing so. These observations and collected feedback relate to your demonstrated knowledge, skills and behaviours over a span of time. This is not limited to a particular procedure or patient case. The observations and feedback are then used to complete the Global Assessment of Professional Attributes (GAPA) form provided on the unit Moodle site.
There are four main sections to the GAPA form:
- Section 1: initiative and communication
- Section 2: responsibility and demeanour
- Section 3: overall technical knowledge and skill
- Section 4: adherence to site policies
In each section there are multiple observable behaviours that are required. For most behaviours, it is expected that you are aiming toward consistent performance but further development may be required to reach the level expected of a graduate practitioner. These behaviours are categorised as non-critical.
There is one critical behaviour: adhering to site policies. It is expected that all students, right from their first placement, are capable of full and ongoing compliance with site policies. This critical behaviour 'Adheres to site policies regarding privacy, confidentiality, use of mobile devices and use of social media' is scored separately using the following scale:
- Full compliance
- One incident of non-compliance
- More than one incident of non-compliance.
A student who is non-compliant on a single occasion will receive a warning from the supervising radiographer or clinical supervisor. This incident will be considered behavioural misconduct. This warning may be issued initially in verbal form or in writing. The clinical supervisor will inform the Unit Coordinator (UC) of the situation. The Head of Course will then lodge a formal report of behavioural misconduct. This will be addressed separately from the scoring of the GAPA.
Any student who violates site policy more than once during a placement unit (whether violation of the same or a different policy as previously) will fail the GAPA. This will result in a Fail grade for the unit. This repeated behaviour is considered serious misconduct and thus will also be dealt with under the Student Behavioural Misconduct Procedure.
Your assessor will score your performance based on how frequently and to what extent you demonstrate each of the listed behaviours. Your assessor is also encouraged to provide comments to expand on the scoring feedback. Your clinical supervisor (or designated assessor) will meet with you after completing each assessment to discuss it with you. This is your opportunity to get clarification on any score or comment on the assessment.
Timing of assessment:
This assessment occurs twice during the placement. The first occurs during Week 3 and the second and final GAPA occurs in the final week of placement. If you haven't used any of your assigned days of leave during your placement, the final GAPA will be on completion of 7 weeks 2 days.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you remind your clinical supervisor at least a week prior to the assessment that it needs to be completed and book a meeting with them toward the end of the week that the assessment is due. This gives your supervisor the opportunity to collect feedback and to designate an alternate assessor if they will not be available.
Formative and summative use of GAPA:
The first GAPA assessment is formative, meaning its function is to provide you and your unit coordinator with formal documented feedback on your performance, but there are no minimum required scores related to your final grade for Sections 1, 2 and 3. Adherence to site policies (Section 4) is a requirement for all GAPAs. You are expected to use that feedback to reflect on your performance, develop an action plan to address any areas of performance that are not yet at the target level for this placement, and use the remaining weeks to achieve those targets. For any behaviour that you score well on for this initial GAPA, it is expected that you will continue to meet that level of performance or surpass it for the remainder of the placement.
The end-of-placement GAPA is summative, in that its primary use is to evaluate and document your performance relative to the stated performance targets (the minimum required scores listed in the Assessment Criteria section below). Your final overall score in this assessment depends on where you stand relative to those performance targets. You should use this end-of-placement assessment as formative as well, to help inform your plans for improvement that you can implement in future placements.
Self-assessment:
For both GAPAs, prior to meeting with your supervisor, you must also use the assessment tool to self-assess your behaviours. Complete the form and take it with you to your meeting with your supervisor to aid in the discussion of your progress.
Documentation and submission requirements:
Once you have met with your supervisor about your GAPA, you both need to sign and date both assessment documents (your supervisor's assessment and your self-assessment). You need to ensure that each completed assessment form has scores entered in all sections and has all required information, including the name, dated signature and MRPBA registration number of your assessor, as well as your dated signature. (Note that both you and your supervisor must sign a hard copy document. Electronic signatures are not accepted.)
Your supervisor will provide you with a copy of the completed assessment form. You must then scan the supervisor-completed and self-completed GAPA forms and upload the file into the unit Moodle site using the link provided.
You are required to log these assessment meetings in Section 3 of your relevant weekly logs, including the meeting date and a brief summary of the discussion plus the overall score of each assessment.
It is your responsibility to ensure regular access to the technology needed to upload your assessment files by the submission due dates. Recognise that the clinical facility is not responsible for providing you access to computer facilities for your assessments.
If you have a technical issue or personal circumstances that prevent you from being able to accurately complete and upload your file by the standard due date, you MUST inform the unit coordinator by the due date and provide just cause.
If you have more than two incidents of either missing the due date and/or having your supervisor-completed GAPA or self-completed GAPA returned to you for correction due to inaccuracy or incompleteness, you will fail this assessment task.
Assessment due dates and extensions:
If there are extenuating circumstances at the clinical facility that prevent you from being assessed during the required weeks, you must contact the unit coordinator in a timely manner to explain the situation and request an extension.
This is a pass/fail assessment item. In the absence of an approved assessment extension, if you have not met all of the minimum criteria for achieving a score of Pass on this assessment, you will receive a Fail grade for the unit.
The 72-hour grace period does not apply to this assessment.
AI scale for this task: 1 No AI. You must not use AI at any point during the assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge.
MRPBA Professional Capabilities
This assessment task maps to the following MRPBA professional Capabilities (2020):
MRPBA Domain 1, Key Capability 2, 7
MRPBA Domain 1A, Key Capability 1
MRPBA Domain 2, Key Capability 1, 2, 3, 5
MRPBA Domain 3, Key Capability 1, 2
MRPBA Domain 4, Key Capability 1, 2
MRPBA Domain 5, Key Capability 1, 2, 3, 4
The first GAPA must be completed by the end of Week 3 and the final GAPA completed by the end of placement. Each completed form must be uploaded within 3 calendar days of the last rostered shift of the week in which the assessment was completed.
Unit coordinator will review the uploaded assessment forms and provide feedback within 5 working days of upload of each item.
The criteria for assessment are detailed on the Global Assessment of Professional Attributes form with the listed required behaviours and attributes.
Non-critical behaviours and attributes:
The assessor will use the stated 1-6 scale to indicate the frequency and extent to which you demonstrate each of those.
| Score | Descriptor of performance |
| NA | No opportunity or insufficient opportunity to assess |
| 1 | Never or hardly ever demonstrated (<10%) despite opportunities to do so |
| 2 | Demonstrated infrequently but less than half of the time |
| 3 | Demonstrated about half of the time (just as likely to happen as not) |
| 4 | Demonstrated much of the time, but still inconsistent |
| 5 | Demonstrated consistently (nearly always, at the level expected of a new graduate practitioner) |
| 6 | Demonstrated consistently and to a high degree (at the level expected of an experienced practitioner). |
The minimum required scores for each section's non-critical behaviours and attributes are:
Section 1: Initiative & Communication
- Minimum score on any task is '3'
- No more than 3 scores of '3'
Section 2: Responsibility & Demeanour
- Minimum score of '4' in all areas
Section 3: Overall Technical Knowledge & Skill
- Minimum score of '3' in all areas
Critical behaviour:
The behaviour 'Adheres to site policies on privacy, confidentiality, use of mobile devices and use of social media' is scored separately using the following scale:
- Full compliance
- One incident of non-compliance
- More than one incident of non-compliance.
Note the procedure for non-compliance with Section 4 of the GAPA, as detailed above in Task Description.
To obtain a score of Pass for this assessment, you must:
- undergo all GAPAs by the due dates listed,
- on the summative GAPA, meet the minimum required scores in all sections, and
- meet the stated standards of documentation completeness and timeliness, such that you have no more than two
incidents in total of incompleteness or lateness.
- Employ interpersonal skills in accordance with CQUniversity's graduate attributes and the profession's Code of Conduct
- Reflect on your performance on an ongoing basis to integrate new learning and experiences with the goal of improving your practice
- Critique radiographs for technical sufficiency and formulation of quality improvement strategies where indicated
- Use radiation and imaging equipment safely and effectively
- Perform routine radiographic examinations accurately, safely and effectively on non-complex patients at the advanced beginner stage of clinical competence
- Participate within your scope of practice as a useful member of the clinical medical imaging team.
5 Reflective Practice Assignment
Critical reflection in an on-going cycle of experience, reflection, learning and practice is a critical skill for your professional development. The Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia (MRPBA) specifies in their Professional Capabilities that to practice safely and competently, entry level practitioners have a responsibility to use a range of reflective processes to critically monitor their actions to ensure that their practice is evidence informed (MRPBA, 2020).
This assessment further develops your skills of reflection on your development as an imaging professional and your goal setting to improve your practice. For this task you will use reflection to develop as a professional by using the feedback from your clinical educators and self-assessing the weaker areas of your performance of radiographic examinations, and formulating a goal to address one of these areas that requires improvement. This will enable you to gain a greater insight into the motivations behind your performance and for you to use this knowledge to direct your own self-development.
The assessment will be submitted in two parts. You will use the Reflection and Action Plan template provided in Moodle to complete the full assessment piece. The Part A submission will include the SMART goal only. Part B submission will include the fully completed template.
Part A:
To assist in writing your SMART goal, you will reflect on your clinical performance in Weeks 1 to 3, inclusive. You will compile a list of feedback based on your technical performance, patient care and communication skills that you have demonstrated in the first weeks of your clinical placement. Your feedback is to be logged in the Feedback section of the Reflection and Action Plan template. The information can include any feedback you receive from your placement supervisor or clinical educators and your own observations of your performance. For each week, reflect on what went well and what you can improve upon for the following week.
From the feedback obtained during your first three weeks of placement, select one attribute that you feel requires improvement to reflect upon more deeply. You will utilise the feedback of your chosen attribute to develop an action plan to implement for the remainder of your clinical placement. You will discuss how you plan to improve the performance of the attribute by setting a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic and Time-based). The timeframe for achieving this goal is from Week 4 to the end of your clinical placement.
For Part A, you will be required to complete and submit the SMART goal only of the template. This part submission should consist of 250 words.
You will receive formative feedback for this section to ascertain the appropriateness of your SMART goal.
Part B:
Using your own observations and evidence from your final GAPA, reflect on your SMART goal and describe if and how you reached your goal. Use the questions within the Outcome Reflection section of the template to analyse what you did to achieve your goal, or why you did not, and what you should have done to ensure success. Describe how this goal has assisted in your continuing development as an imaging professional.
The Part B submission will consist of the fully completed Reflection and Action Plan template. The Outcome Reflection section should consist of approximately 400-500 words. References do not contribute to the word count.
Other submission guidelines:
- A Word template will be provided to enter your responses under each heading, addressing the required content points.
- Your writing should follow the format the template provided.
- As a reflective report, it is appropriate to write in the first person.
- Patient and staff confidentiality must always be maintained.
- Relevant external sources must be used and correctly referenced using the Vancouver style.
A detailed marking rubric will be posted to the unit Moodle site to specify the Pass requirements for each assessment criterion.
This is a pass/fail assessment item. In the absence of an approved assessment extension, failure to submit by the due date and meet the minimum criteria for achieving a score of Pass on this assessment, will result in a Fail grade for the unit.
Academic integrity requirements
You must uphold the standards of academic integrity in this assessment.
- Your submission must be your own original work. You must not consult with or receive assistance from any other person regarding the content or presentation of your submission.
- You may use writing feedback tools such as Grammarly to assist with clarity and structure of your submission.
- You may use AI tools to find external sources that are relevant to your learning and to provide summaries of those information sources. However, you must verify the accuracy of any summarised content before using it in your work.
- All external sources, including but not limited to those identified or summarised using AI tools must be properly acknowledged using correct in-text citations and a reference list.
- If you use content generated by AI in your assignment, you must paraphrase or quote it appropriately, use quotation marks for any directly copied text and provide full citations for all AI tools and sources used.
- You must not use AI tools to write full paragraphs or complete the submission on your behalf.
- You must not submit work that is not your own or that has been generated entirely or in part by AI.
Any indications of possible breach of academic integrity will be investigated and formally reported.
AI scale for this task: Level 3 - AI Collaboration. You may use Al to assist with specific tasks such as drafting text, refining and evaluating your work. You must critically evaluate and modify any Al-generated content you use. Reflection is a process that you as an individual undertake to examine your own actions, thoughts and feelings so that you can better understand them in order to learn from them. This means that AI cannot be used to generate your reflection. To ensure there is transparency around the way that you have used AI, you will make an artificial intelligence declaration as part of your assessment submission.
MRPBA Professional Capabilities and NSQHS Standards
This assessment task maps to the following MRPBA professional Capabilities (2020) and NSQHS Standards (2021):
- MRPBA Domain 4, Key Capability 1, 2
- NSQHS Standard 2
Part A is due by 8pm AEST Sunday at end of Week 3. Part B is due by 4pm AEST Tuesday 6th January 2026.
Unit coordinator will review the uploaded assessment and provide you feedback within two weeks of upload of each submission.
The Reflection and Action Plan submissions will be assessed for:
- completeness of Part A and Part B of the submission listed in the Task Description (including providing a response in each area of the template to address the stated questions),
- creation of a goal that is relevant to your reflection and explicitly meets the SMART criteria,
- depth of reflection, including relevance and practicality, regarding the achievement of your SMART goal,
- use of external resources to inform your reflection, that are cited and referenced correctly,
- academic writing,
- adherence to AI usage as per Task Description
A detailed marking rubric will be posted on the unit Moodle site to specify the Pass requirements for each criterion listed above.
The assessment will be marked in two stages. Part A is formative and will be assessed for its appropriateness of your SMART goal only. If the SMART goal is not deemed suitable by the Unit Coordinator, you will be provided feedback on your SMART goal and you will then have one week to respond to the feedback and resubmit your updated SMART goal.
Part B is summative, with all sections of the template to be completed in full. In the event that your submission does not meet the Pass requirements as per the rubric, you will be provided detailed feedback and guidance by the unit coordinator. You will then have one week to respond to the feedback and resubmit the full assessment piece.
To obtain a score of Pass in this assessment item, you must:
- submit both parts of the assessment by the stated due dates, and
- for each part of the assessment, meet the Pass requirements in all stated criteria after a maximum of two attempts (initial submission and one re-submission).
- Reflect on your performance on an ongoing basis to integrate new learning and experiences with the goal of improving your practice
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?