Unit Synopsis
This clinical unit will provide opportunities to apply and integrate both theoretical and practical knowledge, skills and professional behaviours in the clinical environment. In addition to the consolidation of skills in electrophysiological assessment, you will be exposed to a range of cardiovascular assessment techniques, including echocardiography. Using clinical cases you will analyse and reflect upon the information provided to produce provisional differential diagnoses and patient management plans within an ethical framework of best practice and patient safety. Behavioural aspects of professional practice are emphasised and you are expected to reflect on your own performance and exhibit the highest level of safe patient care. Critical appraisal of performance will enable you to advance your professional, technical and analytical skills in a work setting under qualified supervision.
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 |
Pre-requisites: ECHO12003 Principles of Cardiac Assessment and ECHO12004 Cardiac Assessment Skills 1 OR ECHO12008 Doppler Echocardiography and ECHO12007 Cardiac Rhythm Assessment. Both ECHO12003 Principles of Cardiac Assessment and ECHO12004 Cardiac Assessment Skills 1 OR ECHO12008 Doppler Echocardiography and ECHO12007 Cardiac Rhythm Assessment must have been successfully completed within the last twelve months. Should this time limit have elapsed the student must successfully complete one (or more) technical skill, professional behaviour and diagnostic knowledge-based assessment(s) (after completion of technical skill / knowledge revision). Details of this will be articulated in a learning contract created by the Head of Course or designate. 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 3 - 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 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. Portfolio | 0% |
| 2. Online Quiz(zes) | 0% |
| 3. Practical Assessment | 0% |
| 4. Practical Assessment | 0% |
| 5. Performance | 0% |
| 6. Learning logs / diaries / Journal / log books | 0% |
| 7. Professional Practice Placement | 0% |
This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.
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 3 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 6.25% 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 feedback
Some students felt there were too many assessments.
Assessment strategies will be reviewed to ensure they are appropriate and align with learning outcomes. Improved guidance will be provided to students to support workload management.
Assessment strategies were reviewed to ensure they remain aligned with the unit’s learning outcomes and accurately assess the required competencies. In addition, clearer guidance was provided to help students better manage their workload throughout the term.
Source: Unit coordinator
Attendance and student interaction at tutorials were consistently low throughout the term.
The unit coordinator will seek more interactive and engaging tutorial activities that encourage student participation e.g storytelling, case studies, and group discussions considering student experiences on placement. Drop-in sessions without and agenda will also be considered. Student feedback will be sought on preferred tutorial times and formats to better accommodate their schedules and learning preferences.
Despite trying to introduce more interactive tutorial activities such as storytelling, case studies, and group discussions, attendance remained low, largely due to students feeling overwhelmed by full‑time placement or travelling home during tutorial times. Tutorial recordings proved valuable for those unable to attend and drop‑in sessions were difficult for many to join during daytime hours.
Source: Unit coordinator
Some students require more detailed and constructive feedback to better support their learning and development.
More guidance will be provided to clinical supervisors on how to structure student feedback,
Emails were sent to supervisors reinforcing that constructive feedback is essential, as it allows timely follow‑up and supports the student learning process. This reminder emphasised that documented feedback, rather than verbal comments alone, are vital for identifying issues early and enabling meaningful intervention.
Source: Student feedback
A student suggested that having a chat forum to ask placement‑related questions and discuss tutorial topics would be helpful.
In future deliveries, the UC will provide students with additional reminders about existing chat forums, to encourage consistent communication and support throughout placement.
In Progress
Source: Student feedback
Students reported that the tutorials were most helpful when they focused on practical and clinically relevant content. They also appreciated the additional guidance around assessments and support resolving any placement challenges as they arose.
The UC will continue to provide structured tutorials, to support learning, maintain engagement, and offer students a consistent space to raise and resolve placement‑related issues. Ensuring these sessions remain aligned with assessment outcomes and focused on practical needs will further strengthen student progress and overall satisfaction.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Perform electrophysiological and echocardiographic assessment on the cardiovascular system
- Analyse and communicate the outcomes of cardiac assessment including consideration of quality assurance
- Apply professional behaviour consistent with safe practice
- Analyse, and critically reflect upon, clinical cases involving various cardiac assessment techniques
- Attend clinical placement as per external accreditation requirements (Australian Sonographer Accreditation Registry).
Linked to National and International Standards
1. ASAR Accreditation Standards for Cardiac Sonography - critical practice Unit 8 - Cardiac, Foundation units of competence 1 - 5.
2. European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging Core Syllabus.
3. American Registry for Cardiac Sonography Core Syllabus.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Portfolio | • | • | |||
| 2 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | |||
| 3 - Practical Assessment | • | • | |||
| 4 - Practical Assessment | • | • | |||
| 5 - Performance | • | ||||
| 6 - Learning logs / diaries / Journal / log books | • | ||||
| 7 - Professional Practice Placement | • | ||||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 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 | • | • | • | • | • |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |