Overview
Radiography and computed tomography are part of a much larger process of diagnosing and monitoring patient conditions. In this unit you will expand your theory knowledge of diagnostic tools to include other imaging modalities such as sonography and magnetic resonance imaging as well as some non-imaging diagnostic tests. You will examine a variety of diagnostic work-up algorithms using an evidence-based approach. You will discuss appropriateness criteria for various diagnostic protocols for a range of patient presentations.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Prerequisites: MEDI11001 Fundamentals of the Imaging Professions MEDI12011 Medical Imaging Clinical Experience 1 MEDI13002 Imaging Procedures 3 MEDI13006 Imaging Procedures 4
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 2 - 2026
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 Unit coordinator reflection Informal student feedback
Reduced online engagement and delayed assessment submission occurred when clinical placement commenced concurrently from Week 6.
Invest in complementary strategies beyond the unit Moodle site to reinforce the importance of consistent online engagement and timely assessment completion during the concurrent clinical placement unit.
Feedback from Unit coordinator reflection
Student participation in optional weekly drop-in sessions was low.
Consider introducing fortnightly optional drop-in sessions to support students.
Feedback from Unit coordinator reflection
The average scores for the essay and e-poster assessments were skewed towards higher grade percentages.
Review the assessment tasks and scoring rubrics to ensure performance descriptors provide clearer discrimination between levels of performance.
Feedback from Unit coordinator reflection
As the voice‑over PowerPoint component for the e-poster assessment was optional, it was not consistently submitted by students, which limited opportunities to clearly interpret and contextualise the key information presented within the e‑poster.
Invest in enhancements to the e-poster by incorporating either a structured written abstract or a short recorded voice‑over presentation with marks explicitly allocated to this element in the rubric.
- Discuss the relative merits and limitations of various imaging modalities in the detection and monitoring of traumatic injuries and disease processes
- Critically appraise scientific literature, professional standards and practice guidelines regarding imaging pathways
- Discuss the rationale for and the factors impacting the formulation and use of formalised imaging pathways in clinical practice
- Discuss the impacts of the clinician's selection and implementation of imaging pathway standards and guidelines on the patient's healthcare journey
- Present findings and recommendations for best practice to a discipline-specific audience
This unit links to the following professional capabilities of the medical radiation practitioner (March, 2020) as detailed by the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia:
Domain 1: Medical Radiation Practitioner:
- 3. Understand and apply the different methods of imaging and treatment.
- 4. Confirm the procedure according to clinical indicators.
- 5. Assess the patient's/client's capacity to receive care.
Domain 1A: Diagnostic Radiographer
- 1. Perform projection radiography examinations in a range of settings.
- 2. Perform fluoroscopy and angiography examinations in a range of settings.
- 3. Perform diagnostic computed tomography (CT) imaging.
Domain 2: Professional and ethical practitioner
- 1. Practice in an ethical and professional manner, consistent with relevant legislation and regulatory requirements.
- 2. Provide each patient/client with dignity and care.
- 3. Take responsibility and accountability for professional decisions.
- 4. Advocate on behalf of the patient/client when appropriate.
- 5. Seek opportunities to progress the profession.
Domain 3: Communicator and collaborator
- 2. Collaborate with other health practitioners
Domain 4:
- 1. Resolve challenges through application of critical thinking and reflective practice.
Domain 5: Radiation safety and risk manager:
- 1. Perform and provide safe radiation risk practice.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Online Test - 15% | |||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 35% | |||||
| 3 - Presentation - 50% | |||||
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 - First Nations Knowledges | |||||
| 11 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||