BMED19003 - Clinical Biochemistry

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

This course provides students with an understanding of the role of the clinical pathology laboratory in the diagnosis and management of human diseases and disorders. The course focuses on quality control in the pathology laboratory, the biochemical rationale for the diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring of red and white blood cells, blood electrolyte balance, blood gases, blood acid-base balance, hormones, diabetes mellitus, jaundice, cardiac and liver disease, gout, inherited metabolic disorders, renal dysfunction and malignant diseases. Students will be instructed on correct procedures for preparing blood and urine samples for analysis, and for interpreting results in a clinical biochemistry laboratory. Distance education students will be required to attend a residential school for this course.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite

BMED19010 Macromolecules & Cell Function

or

BMSC11004 Introduction to Biochemistry

or

BMSC11005 Foundations of Biochemistry

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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School Compulsory Residential School
View Unit Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 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).

Assessment Overview

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.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 10%
2. Online Quiz(zes) 10%
3. Practical and Written Assessment 20%
4. Examination 60%

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

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2014 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 46.97% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 50% response rate.

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.

Source: Course evaluations
Feedback:
 Residential School and Laboratory tasks were interesting and stimulated learning

Recommendation:
 Continue

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Course evaluations
Feedback:
 Assessment item return timeframes and communication towards the end of term needs to improve

Recommendation:
 Modify assessment item marking and increases resources to improve timely responses and maintain communication

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Course evaluations
Feedback:
 Moodle site was easy to navigate and resources were well put together

Recommendation:
 Continue

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Course evaluations
Feedback:
 Lectures and content were professionally delivered and helped learning

Recommendation:
 Continue

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Describe, recognise and recall the major functions of a clinical pathology laboratory including: a. The need to establish a reference range of an analyte in body fluids and how this may relate to a disease process. b. The rigour of quality control and how that is maintained in a clinical pathology laboratory. c. The use of different analytical procedures used to measure different analytes in body fluids.
  2. Describe the integration of different biochemical pathways an analyte may be involved in, and how a defect in one pathway may affect other pathways as observed in different disease processes.
  3. Demonstrate competency in biochemical laboratory methods and techniques by way of practical class participation and successful reproduction of results in practical report form.
  4. Define the metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates and fat under normal physiological conditions and be able to identify and evaluate changes to these pathways during disease (eg - diabetes).
  5. Recall, classify and evaluate several major pathological processes/diseases which occur in the human body and their respective biochemical tests including: a. the normal function of major organ systems such as the blood, lungs, liver, heart and kidneys and be able to distinguish changes which occur during damage to these organs. b. the endocrine/hormone systems and relate specific changes to significant metabolic conditions. c. specific tumor markers as important diagnostic tools. d. diabetes, hepatitis, cystic fibrosis, vascular disease and acidosis/alkalosis.
  6. Describe the basic pharmacological treatment of diseases covered in this course such as high cholesterol, cystic fibrosis, hepatitis and inflammation.
  7. Recall simple drug metabolism and receptor signalling.
  8. Appraise the scientific literature (including journal articles and texts) and communicate this knowledge and understanding via scientific writings tasks such as practical reports and case study/problem-based learning assessment items.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Written Assessment • • • • • • •
2 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • • • •
3 - Practical and Written Assessment • • • • • • • •
4 - Examination • • • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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 • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10
1 - Written Assessment • • • • •
3 - Practical and Written Assessment • • • • • • • •
4 - Examination • • •
2 - Online Quiz(zes) • • •