CQUniversity Unit Profile.

In your future career as a sonographer, you will be required to competently perform sonographic examinations of superficial structures within a timely manner. To begin your journey to competency in this domain, you will undertake training and practise in our simulation labs.

For this assessment, you will be required to complete a Practical Sonographic Assessment of the thyroid - it will be a limited version of a clinical protocol. This is an assessment of the pre-scan, scanning, and post-scan skills, and it will be assessed using the electronic ‘Assessment of Readiness for Clinical’ (eARC tool). Resources for successful completion of this assessment will be through compulsory and non-compulsory lab sessions, demonstration videos, lectures, tutorials and a mock test. These resources are all designed to help you develop your scanning skills through the term. It is important to remember that any demonstration video provided should be used as a guide only as often the scanning skill techniques will need to be adapted based on patient anatomy.

There are three components to the practical skills test:

Professional Assessment: This component will assess professional aspects of a sonographic examination such as communication, infection control, consent and patient care skills.

Technical Assessment: This component will assess your ability to perform a modified thyroid protocol, acquire images and identify anatomy. You will be assessed on anatomy and diagnostic quality of sonographic surveys and images.

Clinical (knowledge) Assessment: This component tests ability to identify structures seen on ultrasound in real time, and your ability to verbalise certain elements of the technical assessment. 

All components will be marked through the application of critical and non critical skills. Critical skills are foundational skills required to pass this unit, non critical skills are those that are developing during this unit and can continue to be worked on in subsequent units. Critical skills are 'must do' elements within this assessment, and non critical skills are 'should do' elements. In order to pass this assessment, all critical skills must be completed accurately and consistently. The eARC and 'Appendix to the ARC tool' clarifies the critical skills required in this assessment.

Anatomy recognition is marked as part of the clinical assessment. Your assessor will ask you to identify anatomy on the screen as you scan. This is to ensure your theoretical knowledge can be transferred to sonographic practice to diagnostically assess the region of interest. Narration of your technical skills at a basic level is assessed.

The time limit to complete the entire exam is 30 minutes. The time limit to complete the technical (scanning) component of the assessment is 15 minutes.

This is a PASS/FAIL assessment item.

To PASS this assessment, the professional, technical and clinical components must be graded as a pass against the marking criteria framework - please refer to the eARC tool for specifications.

The professional assessment 'critical' skills are the bolded items in the eARC tool and must be completed in order to pass. 

The technical and clinical skills are separated into critical and non critical skills. Critical skills must be demonstrated consistently throughout the assessment in order pass. There is no limit of non critical errors that may be made and still pass this assessment, however if any of those errors result in a critical error due to severity, then they will count instead as a critical error.

In the event a student does not satisfy a specific professional or technical critical skill requirement, the student will be invited to have a second attempt at the skills assessment during week 12. 

Re-attempts

In the event you are unsuccessful at passing this assessment task in Week 9 of the term, one RESIT (second attempt) opportunity is provided to you in Week 12 of the term. You will receive the marked and moderated eARC tool from the Week 9 Skills test, so please review this carefully to improve relevant skills, knowledge or professional standards. Two additional practice lab sessions will be conducted during week 11 to enable implementation of this feedback, prior to sitting the Week 12 RESIT Skills test. In the event that you are unsuccessful at demonstrating critical skills consistently during the RESIT attempt, there will be no further opportunity for re-attempts or supplementary assessments.

Additional information

Your grade (PASS/FAIL) will be allocated following consensus moderation. Please be aware that all practical skills assessments will be video recorded however these videos will not be released to students. Videos may be viewed by CQU sonography staff and tutors for the purposes of marking and moderation of assessments. It also may be required to be viewed by other CQU staff in the event of a student requesting a Review of Grade or Appeal of Grade. 

It is necessary for sonographers to have a thorough understanding of anatomy and physiology of the structures being examined sonographically. It is also important to correlate sonographic findings with clinical indications to provide a likely diagnosis and differential diagnosis. 

For this assessment you will be required to complete two (2) separate online quizzes. It will assess your knowledge on content specific to the ultrasound of superficial parts. Resources for successful completion of this assessment will be through lectures, tutorials and practice quizzes. 

Quizzes will be held in Weeks 4 and 8 respectively and will be accessible online via the unit Moodle site. 

• Quiz 1 will assess content from Weeks 1 - 3. 
• Quiz 2 will assess content from Weeks  4 - 7.  
• Each quiz will be contain 20 Multiple Choice Questions and have a time limit of 20 minutes. 
• Only one attempt per quiz can be made and once started, the quiz cannot be paused or restarted. 

Important Information. 

• No late submissions are permitted after the quizzes has closed so please ensure adequate time for completion.
• If your internet is unreliable, please ensure you attempt these quizzes on campus. Please ensure to find a clear, organised, quiet zone (at university or at home) prior to attempting these quizzes. 
• If a sudden technical (Moodle site) interruption has occurred, please screen shot, or take a photo with your phone, to provide evidence of this technical issue. You need to contact TaSAC as soon as possible for assistance, and email the unit coordinator to give notification of the technical issue. 
• An extension request for this Assessment item must follow the Moodle Extension Request procedure with documentation of acceptable circumstances. These requests must be received prior to quiz end time. In the absence of an approved extension, or documented technical issue, there will be no opportunity to complete these quizzes after they have closed.

As a sonographer, correctly translating sonographic examination findings onto a sonographers worksheet is an important part of the profession. Sonographers are required to accurately identify, describe and document pathology in a timely manner.

This is a short answer, online test conducted in Week 12 of the term. For this assessment, you will be provided with sonographic images and videos from superficial structure ultrasound examinations. It will assess your ability to interpret and correctly describe sonographic findings. Resources for successful completion of this assessment will be through lectures, tutorials and a practice online worksheet test.

Refer to assessment guidelines below:

• There will be 10 short answer questions
• The time limit will be 20 minutes
• Only one attempt can be made and once started the test cannot be paused or restarted.

Important Information.

• No late submissions are permitted after the test has closed so please ensure adequate time for completion.
• If your internet is unreliable, please ensure you attempt this test on campus. Please ensure to find a clear, organised, quiet zone (at university or at home) prior to attempting the assessment.
• If a sudden technical (Moodle site) interruption has occurred, please screen shot, or take a photo with your phone, to provide evidence of this technical issue. You need to contact TaSAC as soon as possible for assistance, and email the unit coordinator to give notification of the technical issue.
• An extension request for this Assessment item must follow the Moodle Extension Request procedure with documentation of acceptable circumstances. These requests must be received prior to test end time. In the absence of an approved extension, or documented technical issue, there will be no opportunity to complete this test after it has closed.

This is a PASS/FAIL assessment item.

In order for a student to achieve a pass mark in this assessment, the student must achieve a minimum score of 50% in the online test. Students must demonstrate a reasonable attempt to complete this assessment item by the set due date and time.

The online test short answer questions will be marked by the Unit Coordinator. This is an open book test, so you have the opportunity to consult your notes, lecture slides, text books, and Moodle page. However, this assessment is to be undertaken as an individual, and is not approved as group work. As per the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure, Section 3.25 "If evidence shows that plagiarism, collusion, cheating or academic misconduct of any kind has occurred, the conduct will be considered a breach of academic integrity." Colluding with other students on non-group work tasks is considered academic misconduct, and will be reported to the Academic Integrity Unit.

This is a pass/fail assessment item.

The purpose of this assessment is to prepare you for the professionalism and documentation responsibilities you will have on clinical placement, as well as to develop self-reflection skills by setting weekly goals and following-up on your progress. When working clinically, patients and physicians rely on quick, efficient, and complete documentation to issue treatment. Failure to complete paperwork correctly in the clinical environment may have dire consequences to patient management. Professional behaviour encompasses these and other components such as communication, presentation, responsibility and ethics.

PART A: Induction

This assessment will require you to complete the documentation set forth in your Lab Manual and within the Unit Introduction tile on the Moodle site:

• Workplace Health and Safety Induction
• Lab Agreement
• Consent Form - Sonographic Examination for Teaching Purposes
• Compulsory tutorial

Uploaded documentation is in pdf format.

Please ensure your SURNAME, first name, student number, and name of what you are uploading is used in that order in the title of the document, separated by either underscores or single spaces. Any other order variation or information is incorrect so please take note of this:

Mahony_Rebecca_0123456_lab_agreement.pdf

OR

Mahony Rebecca 0123456 lab agreement.pdf

To simulate real clinical environments where correct documentation is of critical importance, non-completed or incorrectly completed paperwork will be returned to students with ONE opportunity provided to correct the error. As this is a pass/fail assessment item, repeated errors may result in a fail of the assessment item.

The compulsory tutorial covers requirements for the Professional Behaviour Assessment (Assessment 4), as well as important induction and term information. It is compulsory that all students attend on TUESDAY 5 MAR 2024 11AM AEST / 12PM AEDT 

PART B: Reflection

• Formative feedback forms from each lab session
• Mock ARC tool
• Self reflection from mock assessment

Formative feedback provides an opportunity for students to record constructive feedback, self-reflect and set objectives for future labs. The tutor will also provide constructive feedback on professionalism and technical skills demonstrated through each lab. Please access the Lab Manual for further detail on these documents.

You are required to bring in an electronic version of the Lab Manual or the relevant pages to each lab session. Hard copy can be used if you do not have access to a suitable electronic device (tablet or laptop).

PART C: Professional Behaviour Assessment

Professionalism and professional behaviour are critical parts of any medically aligned profession, and encompass the manner in which we treat our colleagues, patients, and the professional settings and equipment provided to us. The purpose of this assessment is to ensure that students from the Medical Sonography course are well-equipped to embody the high standards of professionalism that are expected from CQUniversity students while on their upcoming clinical placements, and as graduate sonographers in their future careers. Developing your professionalism during this unit will prepare you for professional standard expectations in subsequent scanning skill units.

This assessment will require you to treat each of your lab sessions as a scheduled "work shift" and to exhibit professional attitudes to ensure you are prepared to enter the work force with the skills required to provide safe and professional patient care. As such, this assessment is based on assessment of student application and attendance during labs throughout the term.

Expected behaviour and its relevance to the clinical environment is listed in the Professional Behaviour Assessment description. Additionally, please familiarise yourself with the CODE OF CONDUCT in the Lab Manual, as well as the ASAR CODE OF CONDUCT and the CQU CODE OF CONDUCT so that you have a clear understanding of the rationale for, and importance of this assessment. All of these documents are posted on the unit Moodle site for your information. Professionalism extends to colleagues, staff, patients, environment, and equipment.

This assessment is marked against the Professional Behaviour Assessment (PBA) description and incorporates a process of warnings and feedback on expected behaviour of students when in the lab environment. This will commence in week 4 of the term, and apply to activities within the lab. A warning is known as a Lapse in Professionalism (LiP). Up to three LiPs can be received within the unit without adverse consequence. A fourth LiP however will result in the assessment being graded as a fail.

In the event that a LiP point is accrued, written documentation of the reason will be completed by the on-site lecturer or the unit coordinator, and provided to you as feedback. You will have the opportunity to seek further clarification from or discuss the circumstances of the LiP point from the unit coordinator.

If unprofessional attitude or behaviour is reported by fellow classmates and not witnessed by a staff member, an unofficial warning with formative feedback will be provided in writing detailing the allegation, and your response will be documented.

This is a pass/fail assessment task in a pass/fail unit - a fail grade for any component of a pass/fail assessment task will result in a fail grade for the assessment task, and subsequently the entire unit.

To pass Part A and B you must:

• complete all paperwork accurately
• save and upload in the format specified including document name
• submit by the due date and time specified

Documentation in the clinical environment must be correctly issued, otherwise there can be dire consequences for patient and legal ramifications for the sonographer. Hence, in the lab, non-completed or incorrectly completed paperwork will be returned to students, with ONE opportunity provided to correct the error. Repeated errors may incur a fail of the assessment item due to Professional Behaviour Assessment requirements.

To pass Part C you must:

• receive no more than 3 LiPs through out the term in relation to lab activities. LiPs will begin to accrue from week 4 only. Instances prior to week 3 will receive written feedback. 

The LiP system is designed to provide a warning and feedback system to students when they exhibit unprofessional behaviour, and hence up to three LiPs (official warnings) can be issued within the unit without adverse consequence. A fourth LiP however will result in the assessment being graded as a fail.