The purpose of this competency is to assess your performance as an observable indicator of your readiness to become a graduate entry level sonographer. The criteria examined is that which is required for a sonographer to demonstrate their knowledge and skill to perform in an area of sonographic practice. The assessment criteria are based on the core minimum requirements for a graduate level sonographer as defined by the Professional Competency Framework for Sonographers.

This practical assessment examines your clinical ultrasound scanning abilities when performing an ultrasound examination in one of five domains of practice; vascular (DVT or carotid), superficial structures (thyroid or testes), breast (female or male), abdomen, and pelvic (transabdominal and transvaginal), or any obstetric examination (first, second or third trimester). Prior to and alongside this clinical placement you will have studied the anatomy, pathophysiology, sonographic appearance, and scanning technique. You have completed extensive scanning skills training on normal volunteers and gained practical experience on clinical placement. 

This assessment should be conducted before the end of week 10 of the clinical placement. You are permitted 1 re-attempt to complete this assessment. 

Note: Before you can attempt a competency, you must log a minimum of twenty (20) cases for that particular study/domain. For example, if you intend on attempting a thyroid competency, you must have logged a minimum of twenty (20) thyroid studies.

Your supervisor will complete the assessment with you present and will discuss any areas that they feel are not performing at a satisfactory level. It is anticipated that your supervisor will ask you questions to ascertain your knowledge of anatomy, pathology, scanning technique, rationale for any extended scan and scan findings. Your supervisor will provide you with an opportunity to ask questions that will allow you to improve your clinical ultrasound skills in future placements.

Level of GenAI use allowed: 

Level 1: You must not use AI at any point during this assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge. 

Note: This assessment must be completed by a sonographer with a minimum of 2 years post-graduate qualification.

If you received a fail on your first attempt, you are permitted one (1) re-attempt in the domain that was failed with no more than two (2) attempts. If a re-attempt is needed, submit the assessment documents from all attempts

Your assessor will grade you on each criterion according to how dependent you are upon their direction and support. to pass this assessment you must reach Level 2 Advanced Beginner.

• Intermediate stage in learning a complex physical skill. It is the ability to converted learnt responses into habitual actions so the movements can be performed with a medium level of proficiency and confidence.
• Requires direction some of the time.
• Performs uncomplicated sonographic examinations to an acceptable standard, but needs assistance to meet acceptable standards for more complex examinations. 

The grade checked will be describing your average performance in each area, and the assessor will describe a specific example of your good performance and/or areas for improvement in the comments box on page 4. In order to Pass this competency, you must achieve Level 2 in all assessment areas, which is at the ‘advanced beginner’ (student) level. 

To be passed as an Advanced Beginner, the student must achieve Level 3 in patient communication and Level 2 or above in all other assessment areas.

Please see the Moodle Unit for practical assessment criteria.

The 72-hour grace period does not apply to this 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 behaviour and attributes of a healthcare professional and present a positive image to the clinical facility's staff and clients. As a student in the medical sonographer profession in Australia, you are also required to be working toward consistent compliance with the Code of Conduct for Medical Sonographers. The purpose of the GAPA is for the student to demonstrate their competency in the holistic matrix key components that are fundamental for sonographer practice as detailed in the Professional Competency Framework for Sonographers.

Your clinical supervisor, or delegate, will be working in the sonography area with you, directly observing your day-to-day performance. These observations and collected feedback relate to your demonstrated knowledge, skills and behaviour over a span of time, not limited to a particular scan type or patient case. The observations and feedback are then used to complete the Global Assessment of Professional Attributes (GAPA) form provided.

There are four main sections to the GAPA form:

• Section 1: Applied Knowledge
• Section 2: Psychomotor Skills (scanning skills) and Standard of Work
• Section 3: Professionalism
• Section 4: Privacy and Confidentiality*

In each section there are multiple observable behaviour that you are required to demonstrate throughout your placement. Your assessor will score your performance based on how frequently and to what extent you demonstrate each of the listed behaviour. Your assessor is also encouraged to provide comments to expand on the scoring feedback. This assessment occurs twice during the placement; mid-placement GAPA (week 5) and end placement GAPA (week 10). 

* Any breaches in Privacy and Confidentiality will result in a FAIL for this assessment. Confidential information includes patient details, medical records, images, and any personally collected information, whether verbal or written. This confidentiality obligation extends to all stakeholders, including clinical placement sites, patients, staff, and fellow students. Any breaches in confidentiality will result in a fail for this assessment (both mid or end GAPA) and a fail for the unit. This will also result in student misconduct. 

The mid-placement GAPA assessment is formative, meaning its function is to provide you and your unit coordinator with formal documented feedback on your performance. 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 at the mid-placement assessment, it is expected that you will continue to meet that level of performance or surpass it for the rest of the placement. I recommend that you print a copy of the GAPA for your supervisor to provide them with the required paperwork. 

If minimum scores in the mid-placement GAPA are not met, you will be regarded as a 'Student at Risk'. The unit coordinator will contact you to advise you of the risk of failing this unit and provide formative feedback. You must respond to this email to show you understand the implications of this information and give details of your plans for immediate improvement. A phone call or clinical visit will follow. A review of your progress will be completed a short time after the mid placement GAPA, at any time as requested by your supervisor or unit coordinator. Unsatisfactory scores at this end placement GAPA will result in a fail grade for the unit.

The end GAPA assessment occurs during week 10, the final week of the placement. The end-of-placement GAPA assessment is summative, in that its primary use is to evaluate and document your performance relative to the stated performance targets. The minimum required scores are listed in the Assessment Criteria section below. Your final overall grade in this assessment depends on where you stand relative to those performance targets. As this placement is the second of four in the course, you should use this end-of-placement assessment as formative as well, to inform your plans for improvement in your third placement.

It is your responsibility to remind your clinical supervisor, at least a week in advance, to complete the assessment and schedule a meeting with him/her afterwards to discuss it before the assessment due date. This allows your supervisor to collect feedback and arrange for an alternate assessor if necessary.

If there are extenuating circumstances that prevent you from being assessed in time before the assessment due date, you must inform the unit coordinator in a timely manner and request an extension through the Moodle site.

Occasionally student behaviour is beyond acceptable risk to clinical sites. Clinical supervisors contact CQUniversity academics immediately when this occurs. A GAPA assessment is requested at this time (which could be at any point during your placement). If the outcome of this GAPA is unsatisfactory, and/or the site feedback indicates that they can no longer host you due to the risk incurred, then this one GAPA alone, or site refusal to host, will constitute a fail grade of this unit. Where such risk exists, your placement will terminate immediately. It is difficult to place such students in the clinical environment again and your continued progress within the sonography course may be at risk.

Level of GenAI use allowed: 

Level 1: 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.

There are 38 behaviours you are required to demonstrate during placement and are listed in the GAPA form. These required behaviours are grouped into four (4) sections:

• Section 1: Applied Knowledge has five (5) required behaviours
• Section 2: Psychomotor Skills (Scanning Skills) and Standard of Work has twelve (12) required behaviours
• Section 3: Professionalism has sixteen (16) required behaviours.
• Section 4: Privacy and Confidentiality*

*Any breaches in Privacy and Confidentiality will result in a FAIL for this assessment. Confidential information includes patient details, medical records, images, and any personally collected information, whether verbal or written. This confidentiality obligation extends to all stakeholders, including clinical placement sites, patients, staff, and fellow students. Any breaches in confidentiality will result in a fail for this assessment (both mid or end GAPA) and a fail for the unit.

For the mid-placement GAPA, you are required to have demonstrated satisfactory performance at a Level 1 or above across all 38 behaviours outlined in the GAPA. If you have not met the requirements, you will be regarded as a 'Student at Risk'. The unit coordinator will contact you to advise you of the risk of failing this unit and provide formative feedback. You must respond to this email to show you understand the implications of this information and give details of your plans for immediate improvement.

For the end placement GAPA, you are required to have demonstrated satisfactory performance at a Level 2 or above across all 38 behaviours outlined in the GAPA. 

In order to be successful in this assessment task, you must:

• undergo both the mid-placement and end-of-placement assessments by the required date and time frame,
• meet the minimum required scores across all three sections on the end-of-placement assessment,
• ensure the documentation of each assessment is complete, and
• upload each the completed end placement GAPA form into the unit Moodle site by the due date.

The purpose of this assessment is to prepare you for the professionalism and documentation responsibilities you will have on clinical placement, as well as take accurate records of your attendance and exposure to different examinations. 

Clinical Placement Checklist & Induction

All WIL Mandatory Checks must be completed and verified on SONIA before the start of your placement to be eligible to undertake this unit.

Your clinical supervisor/s will need to complete the ‘Clinical Placement Checklist’ to confirm they understand the assessment requirements for this unit. This document must be signed by the clinical supervisor/s within the first week of your clinical placement and submitted via unit Moodle site before Friday 18:00 AEST, week 1 of your placement block.

Compulsory Zoom Tutorial 

As part of this assessment you must attend the compulsory first tutorial, Wednesday 2nd July 2025 7pm AEST. Failure to attend may result in a fail for this assessment. Any assessment that is failed in a pass/fail unit will result in a fail for the unit.   

A compulsory induction tutorial will take place in Week 1 of this unit for all students regardless of which block you are undertaking the placement. It is compulsory that all students attend. The compulsory tutorial covers requirements for professional behaviour, clinical placement advice and information, as well as important induction and term information.

Clinical Placement Attendance and Case Log

As a health care professional, your attendance is relied upon for the provision of quality patient care. Your absence impacts service delivery and safe patient care. 

The electronic spreadsheet will be a record of your hours and examination performed. 

It is expected that you attend 100% of the time during your clinical placement to achieve the minimum requirement of ten (10) weeks of placement with a minimum 400 clinical attendance hours for this unit.

The verify hours sheet of the document must be printed, verified, and signed by your clinical site supervisor (preferred), radiologist, a sonographer delegated by the clinical supervisor on a weekly basis. You must submit this document at the end of the clinical placement. Each day you are to enter the following details into the electronic spreadsheet; the date, hours worked, clinical site, any leave taken and leave type, the initials of the supervisor who signs your weekly verification.

Level of GenAI use allowed: 

Level 1: You must not use AI at any point during this assessment. You must demonstrate your core skills and knowledge. 

The minimum required hours for CG91 is 2000. This is a minimum not a maximum. The minimum required hours for this unit is 400 hours.

For this unit, you may submit outside of clinical placement hours accumulated from after your Year 2 placement block and before the beginning of the Year 3 placement block.

However, these hours can only be used towards your clinical hours in exceptional circumstances where there is an unexpected shortfall of your clinical placement hours. The number of hours submitted is at the discretion of the unit coordinator and Head of Course. Please read through the Clinical Placement Attendance and Logbook Form carefully so you understand the criteria against which your clinical attendance will be evaluated. Public holidays are included as hours worked. You can log eight (8) hours worked for each public holiday. These do not need to be 'made up'.

Any time you are away from your clinical institution, you MUST supply a verifiable supporting document (such as a Medical Certificate) to justify your absence. Both your clinical supervisor and the unit coordinator must be informed of any absences from your clinical placement. Any absence for part, or all of, a working day must be made up after, or during (e.g. Saturday /evenings if available), the clinical placement.

The clinical logbook serves as a record of the depth and breadth of experience you attained during the placement. It demonstrates the degree of progression of your skill development within and across examination types. You should analyse this record at regular intervals to assist in the formulation of learning goals that will support your achievement of the unit outcomes. Students' are required to maintain a weekly logbook of cases performed to ensure accurate record keeping of all case studies which was observed or participated in whilst on clinical placement.

Each case will be categorised within one of the following domains (see Moodle unit for individual examinations):

• Abdomen 
• Superficial Parts 
• Breast 
• Obstetrics 
• Vascular 
• Musculoskeletal
• Other

You must also complete the Reflection component of the document at the end of your clinical placement hours.

In each reflection, address the following topics:  

•   What was you expectation before your placement?
•     What was you experience during placement (regarding supervision, clinical work, overall workload - academic and clinical, etc)?
•     Major Achievements (clinical, academic, other) during your placement.
•     Goals for next clinical unit. 

The Clinical Placement Attendance and Logbook form is available via the unit Moodle site. Information on how to complete this Clinical Placement Attendance and Logbook form is also available through the unit Moodle site. Please print the verify hours/case log sheet which is to be signed and verified each week by your supervisor or person as delegated by your supervisor. Please read the form and information sheet carefully so you understand the criteria against which your logbook will be evaluated. It is the student's responsibility to ensure the Clinical Placement Attendance form is maintained and signed off weekly.

To pass this assessment you must achieve the following minimum requirements by the end of this clinical placement:
1. Upload the completed and signed 'Clinical Placement Checklist' form before the end of your first week of placement. Failure to submit on time may result in a fail for this assessment. A fail in any component of a PASS/FAIL assessment will result in a fail for the unit.

2. Students are required to record a minimum of thirty (30) cases across varied domains in total in an entire 10-week placement, of which twenty [20] must be complete studies in any one of the five domains of practice (abdomen, superficial, breast, gynaecology/ obstetrics and vascular). Each incomplete study (i.e. partially completed study) is counted as 0.5 of a complete study. Please note these are the minimum numbers only, and all examinations that you participate in or perform are to be recorded.

3. Complete a minimum of ten (10) weeks with a minimum of 400 hours of clinical attendance. 

4. Document your attendance and case logs accurately in your electronic spreadsheet. Have your hours verified and signed every week. The electronic form and verified hours document must be uploaded by 5pm AEST on the Monday following your placement block. Block 1: Monday 8th September 2025 and Block 2: Monday 17th November 2025. For those on a non-standard placement block due on the Monday following your clinical placement block.

Assessment due dates: 

Part 1: clinical placement checklist  

The completed clinical placement checklist must be submitted by you via the unit Moodle site. 

Compulsory Zoom Tutorial Induction:

• MONDAY 7th JULY 2025, 7PM AEST

Clinical placement attendance and case log 

The completed clinical placement attendance and case log must be submitted by you via the unit Moodle site every two weeks (weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, & 10) of placement.  

Submit in draft form weeks 2, 4 , 6, and 8. Submit week 10 for grading.

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

The Australian Sonographers Association (ASA) holds scientific conferences annually where sonographers are invited to present cases. A power point can be used to provide an eye-catching visual display of a new technique, clinical insight, a case review/series or the results of original audit/research. This assessment tasks consists of three parts; you will produce and present a Microsoft Powerpoint Presentation  during a Zoom session, mark three peer presentations and submit a case report further expanding on your case presentation. 

Part 1 Case Presentation 

You will present a case study in the format of a 5 - 6 minute power point presentation. This will be a case that you have scanned during your clinical placement. The case presentation will be presented during designated zoom tutorial sessions outlined below. You will be required to self allocate to a presentation session via the unit Moodle site under the assessment tile. Your PowerPoint slides are to be submitted at least 24 hours prior to your allocated presentation session.

You can discuss any topic of a particular case that you have scanned during this presentation, as your case report will be exploring the clinical case findings for this study, it is important to choose an appropriate case for both types of assessment styles (e.g. pathology found can be used for the clinical case report, and your case presentation could explore the optimisation factors you undertook to ensure diagnostic imaging of this pathology). An example of case topics are outlined below, however you are not limited to these options. Try to think of different concepts that you could present in your case presentation to highlight a particular facet of the case that you have chosen. 

• Report of an interesting case
• Summary of how to optimise the image setting with the ultrasound physics explained, such as grayscale or Doppler image (except basic optimising techniques such as Depth, Focus and TGC) and demonstrate the difference in the quality of images before and after applying specific optimising techniques for a particular case.
• Explain a scanning method(s) applied to overcome the obstacle encountered in a particular case. (e.g. transducer manipulation, patient position, etc), and demonstrate the difference in the images before and after.
• Explain how you have extended a sonographic examination when required and discuss the sonographic reasoning for this for a particular case. 

Please refer to the assessment criteria to ensure that your power point follows the outlined requirements. 

Part 2: Peer Marking

You are required to peer mark three case presentations using the supplied marking guide. You are required to mark these case presentations from separate presentation sessions. You are not required to self allocate to these sessions for peer marking, instead you will attend three separate case presentation sessions and mark a student from that session. Once you have completed your peer marking you will submit all three peer marking guides via the unit Moodle site by the due date outlined below. 

Part 3: Case Report 

The Australian Sonographers Association (ASA) publishes a scientific journal ‘Sonography’ as a commitment to ensure research is undertaken to provide an evidence base that supports the development of the profession. A clinical case report is a written account of the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of an individual patient. It is a means of communicating something new that has been learnt in the clinical setting.

You will produce a clinical case report in a style that would be eligible to be published in a ‘Sonography Journal'. This clinical case report will further expand on your case presentation by clinically discussing the case findings. In this 1000-1200 word case report, you will explore five elements;

• a statement of why the case and/or concept is worth reading about.
• an account of the case and/or concept, with all relevant data and explanation
• a discussion of evidence, possible alternative explanations for the case, 
• suggestions for improvements and,
• finally a conclusion with implications.

Please refer to the assessment criteria for structure and submission requirements of your case report.

Level of GenAI use allowed: 

Level 2: You may use AI for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show how you have developed and refined these ideas. 

Part 1: Case Presentation

• Presentation submitted as a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation
• Must include title, content and reference slides. Content can be 3 to 5 slides with maximum 5 to 8 slides in total.
• All slides to be in a ‘landscape’ format
• Font style and size (e.g. 16–24 points: should be large and clear enough to be easily read from a distance)
• Minimum resolution for graphics and images (72 dpi)
• Consider a colour scheme selection that would be easy to read from a distance (contrast of text content with background colour)
• When presenting, the PowerPoint presentation should last for approximately 5-6 min
• Your PowerPoint slides are to be submitted at least 24 hours prior to your allocated presentation session.

Part 2: Peer Marking 

Peer marking guide provided.

Part 3: Case Report 

Your case report should be separated into the following structure:

• Introduction
• Case (or Concept) Description
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• References

Word Count: 1000-1200 words with at least 6 supporting and relevant references no older than 10 years in Vancouver referencing style.

Include 5 figures in your case report. Any images used for the case reports must be submitted with all identifying factors removed. Identifying factors include things such as patient name, date of birth, medical record number, referring or reporting doctor, and clinical site name.

You case report will be assessed for:

• a statement of why the case and/or concept is worth reading about.

• an account of the case and/or concept, with all relevant data and explanation a discussion of evidence, possible alternative explanations for the case, suggestions for improvements in future practice

• spelling, grammar, academic writing

• adherence to 1200 word count +/- 10% (words past 1320 words will not be assessed and may lead to marks not being allocated to the discussion outside of this word count

Please refer to the assessment criteria for structure and submission requirements of your case report.

Formatting Requirements:

• Word count: 1000-1200 words ( Excludes reference list)
• Use 1.5 line spacing and 12-point Arial font.
• Must be submitted in a word document.

Referencing 

Referencing is essential.  It is a vital component of any academic work and plagiarism is taken seriously by the university.
Please refer to the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure document.
See support on Vancouver referencing on the unit Moodle site.

You will need to follow Vancouver referencing requirements (follow the link via the unit Moodle page or through ALC access).
Your assessment should be written in appropriate academic language, and free of grammatical and spelling errors.
Remember that you have access to the ALC and Studiosity to assist you with your academic writing.

The marking rubric will be made available via the unit Moodle site.

Assessment Due Date: 

All three parts of this assessment must be submitted by you via the unit Moodle site under the appropriate assessment submission pages. 

PART 1 CASE PRESENTATION: Due to be presented during seven tutorial sessions by self allocation to either of the following dates, power point slides to be submitted 24 hours prior to chosen case presentation session.

Block 1: self allocation must be completed by Friday 18th July 2025, 6PM AEST 

• Case Presentation Session 1:  Wednesday 23rd 2025,  7 PM AEST
• Case Presentation Session 2: Wednesday 30th July 2025,  7 PM AEST
• Case Presentation Session 3: Wednesday 6th August 2025, 7PM AEST
• Case Presentation Session 4: Wednesday 13th  August 2025, 7PM AEST
• Case Presentation Session 5: Wednesday 20th August 2025, 7PM AEST
• Case Presentation Session 6: Wednesday 27th August 2025, 7PM AEST
• Case Presentation Session 7: Wednesday 3rd September 2025, 7PM AEST
   

Block 2: self allocation must be completed by Friday 26th September 2025, 6PM AEST

• Case Presentation Session 1: Wednesday 1st October 2025, 7PM AEST
• Case Presentation Session 2: Wednesday 8th October 2025, 7PM AEST (QLD)
• Case Presentation Session 3: Wednesday 15th October 2025, 7PM AEST (QLD)
• Case Presentation Session 4: Wednesday 22nd October 2025, 7PM AEST (QLD)
• Case Presentation Session 5: Wednesday 29th October 2025, 7PM AEST (QLD)
• Case Presentation Session 6: Wednesday 6th November 2025, 7PM AEST
• Case Presentation Session 6: Wednesday 12th November 2025, 730PM AEST

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

PART 2 CASE PRESENTATION PEER MARKING: Due to be completed during three separate case presentation sessions by self allocation and submitted after week 10 of placement, Friday 6pm AEST

• Block 1: Friday, 5th September 2025 6PM AEST 
• Block 2: Friday, 14th November 2025 6PM AEST
  The 72-hour grace period does not apply to this assessment.

PART 3 CASE REPORT: Due week 10 of placement, Friday 6PM AEST

• Block 1: Friday, 5th September 2025 6PM AEST 
• Block 2: Friday, 14th November 2025 6PM AEST

Any students whose clinical placement dates have been negotiated beyond these dates will be eligible to apply for an extension via the unit Moodle site. 

The following assessment supports can be found on the unit Moodle site.
Discussions in tutorials
Marking rubric
Vancouver referencing information