The written assessment for MEDS20007 is EITHER a narrative review OR detailed case report (or case series) in paediatric ultrasound.

The Narrative Review  answers a research question or aim relevant to paediatric ultrasound by reviewing the available literature and includes the following components:

• Introduction
• Method
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• References

The detailed Case Report or Case Series can be an unusual presentation of a common paediatric condition or a rarely seen paediatric condition. A case series would describe multiple paediatric cases where retrospectively an observation is made, commented on and supported by the literature. The case report  (or series) needs to be completed by you in your clinical workplace. The report should have an educational outcome.

The case report or case series is to be structured into headed sections as follows:

• Introduction (including literature review)
• Case description
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• References

The report requires five elements:

1. A statement of why the case is worth reading about

2. An account of the case, with all relevant data

3. Discussion of evidence that the case is unique or unexpected

4. Possible alternative explanations for case features

5. Conclusions with implications.

For either written assessment to be submitted, the following applies: 

• Your work should show clear relevance to paediatric sonography
• Evidence based, peer reviewed material must be used and appropriately referenced
• Any ultrasound images must be original and de-identified or properly referenced with written permission from the original author/s if sourced from elsewhere.

Your assessment will be assessed on academic writing and contain content which is;

• Interesting and clinically relevant
• Structured and cohesive
• Logical and coherent
• Concise
• Correctly and accurately referenced

The level of writing style expected for these assessments is such that the assessment could be published in a peer review journal. Referencing is  required to be completed in Vancouver Style.

Assessment criteria for assessment 1 is in accordance with the detailed marking rubric, available on the Moodle site.

Word limit 2000 words +/-10% (1800 ~ 2200 words) excluding titles, headings, image descriptions, figures, tables and references. The assessment is required to contain 20 – 30 relevant references and may include up to 10 figures/images. All images are to be deidentified and if figures/images are taken from a peer review journal, permission from the publisher is required and evidence included in an appendix.

Submission format is as a Word document.

Font - Calibri, size 12 with 1.5 spacing.

A cover page should be included specifying; unit code and name, essay title, your name and student number, unit coordinator and word count.

Written style, presentation and communication

• Information presented is synthesized into a unified, coherent, whole document which demonstrates internal coherence and logical flow
• There is a clear progression from introduction through to conclusion
• Literature reviewed is critically analyzed , relevant to the topic and reflected in the discussion
• Written and presented in a scholarly style which is also creative and effective
• Findings are clearly communicated in a style that incorporates both specialist and non-specialist audience
• Findings are clearly articulated and demonstrate critical judgement
• Independently written and can foster intellectual debate
• Contributes information that is relevant and of value to the field concerned
• Writing is original
• Accurate, appropriate and complete in-text citations and reference list
• Appropriate language; clear, accurate and used to maximum effect
• Outstanding command of grammar, spelling and punctuation with thorough editing

Contribution to the field

Relative to the limited time available within the scope of this assessment task, there has been a thorough and meticulous exploration of the topic relation to paediatric ultrasound that:

• For a Narrative Review, demonstrates a gap in knowledge

• For Detailed Case Report, highlights an unusual pathological process

• For Case Series, discusses an unusual but common finding in series of patients

You are required to complete an online test at the end of term to demonstrate your depth of knowledge gained, relative to this unit.  You will be assessed on the content covered in the whole unit (weeks 1 to 12). This includes material covered in lectures, tutorials and any additional resources and reading supplied during the term. The test involves a combination of question types, including short and long answer questions which require typed answers and some multi-choice questions. Image interpretation may be included in short and long answer questions.

This online test must be completed by you, without assistance or collusion with others. Any evidence of collusion will be dealt with in adherence with the CQU student academic integrity policy and procedure.

For multiple choice questions, you will be required to select the most appropriate answer from a selection of possible answers in relation to the question asked.

Typed response answers will be assessed according to:

• use of appropriate medical and sonographic terminology/descriptors and directional terms
• correct spelling of the terms
• relevance of response to the question asked
• adequate detail provided in the answer
• a depth of understanding demonstrated