BMSC14005 - Preparation for Professional Practice in Medical Laboratory Science

Showing: 2026 HE Term 2
General Information

Unit Synopsis

This capstone unit will provide you with an opportunity to examine and critique current health practices issues prior to your entry into the Medical Laboratory Science professional workforce. Your study will focus on the contemporary legislative, social and economic trends in the Australian Pathology profession that will impact on your practice. You will be required to exhibit ethical decision-making and clinical/professional reasoning at a graduate level, in preparation for practice.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 4
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisites:

BMSC13001 Advanced Haematology

AND

BMSC13002 Advanced Clinical Biochemistry

AND

BMSC13003 Medical Microbiology 2

AND

BMSC13009 Immunology OR BMSC13023 Applied Immunology

AND

BMSC13010 Pharmacology OR BMSC13020 Drug Discovery and Clinical Trials

AND

BMSC13011 Advanced Transfusion Science OR BMSC13015 Molecular Targeted Therapies

AND

BMSC13016 Advanced Histopathology and Cytopathology

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 No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2026

Term 1 - 2027 Profile
Online Rockhampton

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. Reflective Practice Assignment 20%
2. Portfolio 40%
3. Oral Examination 40%

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

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: Student feedback, personal reflection
Feedback:
 Outdated lecture/tutorial videos and PowerPoint slides

Recommendation:
 Update all videos and slides prior to 2026 offering.

Action Taken:
 Substantially completed. Tutorials were comprehensively redesigned to incorporate interactive scenarios and stimulate discussion. 70% of lectures were rewritten and re-recorded, including updated content on contemporary laboratory practice and total laboratory automation. Remaining lectures will be updated for the next offering.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback:
 Confusion around standards required for assessments

Recommendation:
 Update rubric and improve scaffolding for assessments 1+3.

Action Taken:
 Assessment scaffolding was strengthened through the addition of a tutorial discussing assessment requirements and timely responses to student questions throughout the term. Students were able to submit short sections of early drafts to for review and feedback. All assessment rubrics were rewritten to clarify the required criteria and reduce ambiguity in marking. Further refinement of the rubrics is planned for 2027.
Source: Personal reflection
Feedback:
 Few students able to attend live tutorials due to time allocated

Recommendation:
 Ensure a more suitable tutorial time for future offerings that is outside standard working hours.

Action Taken:
 Tutorials were moved to 6 pm to improve accessibility for students working or undertaking placement. Regular live attendance increased 200% compared with the 2025 offering.
Source: SUTE feedback and self-reflection
Feedback:
 Continued modernisation of lecture content

Recommendation:
 Complete redevelopment and re-recording of the remaining lecture material. Introduce new content on analyser and assay selection and validation, and further expand coverage of total laboratory automation.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: Self-reflection
Feedback:
 Assessment design for future cohort growth and emerging GenAI use

Recommendation:
 Review the current assessment structure in preparation for increased enrolments associated with CM18 and with consideration of how appropriate GenAI use can be incorporated into assessments.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

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

  1. Apply knowledge of legal, economic and ethical issues that impact the provision of health care services and best practice in Medical Laboratory Science
  2. Investigate the current trends in the provision of professional services to rural/remote and regional Australia
  3. Discuss the principles underlying effective leadership and communication skills in health care settings, demonstrating cultural safety
  4. Discuss current Australian Standards for laboratory accreditation and how these impact on service delivery in rural/remote and regional Australia
  5. Discuss the role of a Medical Laboratory Scientist in the Safety and Risk Management framework in healthcare.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Reflective Practice Assignment • • •
2 - Portfolio • • •
3 - Oral Examination • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • •
2 - Problem Solving •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • • • •
8 - Ethical practice • • •
9 - Social Innovation •
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