Unit Synopsis
This unit is the first of three clinical practice units in which you will gain experience by observing a real chiropractic clinic during a placement for part of the term. On placement, you will be expected to perform as a functional team member under guidance of the clinic supervisors and placement mentors whilst developing observational and reflective skills. While during your on-campus time in Clinical Practice 1 you will also learn how to communicate clearly and effectively with patients. You will also become immersed in the clinical experience by applying and integrating the clinical skills and knowledge you have gained up until this point in preparation for Clinical Practice 2.
Details
| Level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 9 |
| Credit Points | 12 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.25 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisite: Student must be enrolled in CC71 - Master of Clinical Chiropractic and Corequisite: CHIR20001 Advanced Neurology and Skeletal Dysfunction 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 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
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).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 12-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Portfolio | 60% |
| 2. Professional Practice Placement | 0% |
| 3. In-class Test(s) | 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%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 50.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 21.05% 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: SUTE
Some students felt that the recorded lectures could be refreshed to improve their learning experience.
It is recommended the unit coordinator look at refreshing content as appropriate.
The unit coordinator refreshed the lecture content as appropriate.
Source: SUTE
Some students felt that a review of the different content streams within this unit would ensure that each stream was allocated the correct amount of time.
It is recommended that the discipline review the content streams within this unit.
The content streams were reviewed and improvements implemented.
Source: SUTE
Students appreciated the feedback they received on their assignments in this unit.
It is recommended that the Unit Coordinator continue to provide high quality feedback.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Students reported that completing the assessments in this unit enhanced their learning.
It is recommended that the unit continue to use engaging assessments.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Some students would have appreciated clearer unit requirements.
It is recommended that the Unit Coordinator review the current unit requirements to ensure that they are clear.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Develop, refine and integrate problem solving skills through clinical assessment, decision making and management at an intermediate level
- Display behaviour appropriate to a professional health care provider, including ethical practice management and upholding the professional code of conduct
- Demonstrate empathetic communication skills in the practitioner-patient relationship, and other professional and personal relationships
- Demonstrate the ability to integrate sustainably within the broader health care system, including responsible use of health care resources, the ability to collaborate with other health care disciplines, and the employment of health promotion and preventative strategies through community education.
On successful completion of this unit you will meet certain CCEA requirements that will progress you towards applying for registration as a chiropractor in Australia.
The Learning Outcomes build towards CCEA’s Accreditation Standard 4.4.3 regarding Clinical Sciences.
This unit is designed to contribute towards you having adequate and early patient experiences and opportunities to acquire sufficient clinical knowledge, skills, and attitudes to assume appropriate clinical responsibility upon graduation.
It provides early, supervised patient contact leading to participation in patient care. Your clinical skills training includes physical, clinical and lab diagnosis, mental health assessment, orthopaedics, gynaecology, obstetrics, paediatrics, geriatrics, dermatology, otolaryngology, ophthalmology, diagnostic imaging procedures and interpretation, nutrition, rehabilitation, ergonomics, pharmacology (a working knowledge of commonly used medications and pharmaceuticals), and other appropriate subjects. Clinical skills include history taking, physical examination, spinal analysis, mental health assessment, first aid and emergency procedures, manual techniques, physical therapies (such as heat, cold, bracing, electrical therapies, etc.), and other treatment procedures, communication, leadership skills, etc. Appropriate clinical responsibility would include physical and mental health promotion, disease prevention and patient care, for the child, adolescent, adult, geriatric and medically compromised patient. Participation in patient care would include relevant community experience and teamwork with other health professions.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Portfolio | • | • | ||
| 2 - Professional Practice Placement | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | ||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Communication | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Research | • | • | • | • |
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | • | • | • | • |
| 7 - Leadership | • | • | • | |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |
| 1 - Portfolio | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||
| 2 - Professional Practice Placement | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||
| 3 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | • | • | |||||