ECHO20004 - Cardiac Clinical Unit 4

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This graduate clinical unit builds on the skills, knowledge and attitudes developed during the Bachelor of Echocardiography and Cardiac Physiology. You will perform diagnostic cardiac ultrasound and other cardiac assessment and analyse the outcomes to specified levels of competency. You will evaluate clinical findings to formulate a differential diagnosis and initiate further investigation 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. You will apply knowledge of patient safety, risk management and quality improvement to formulate clinically relevant strategies, promoting a safe work environment and departmental best practice.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level Not Applicable
Credit Points 18
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.375
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite

ECHO13007 Cardiac Clinical Unit 3

ECHO13007 Cardiac Clinical Unit 3 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 2 - 2025

Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Mixed Mode

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 18-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 37.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 450 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Practical Assessment 0%
2. Performance 0%
3. Professional Practice Placement 0%
4. Learning logs / diaries / Journal / log books 0%
5. Case Study 0%
6. Online Quiz(zes) 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

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Previous Feedback

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 15.38% 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: Student emails.
Feedback
Students appreciated being sent an email outline of assessment dates prior to commencement of clinical placement.
Recommendation
Relevant dates to again be emailed to individual students to provide clear instruction and prevent any ambiguity in assessment due dates.
Action Taken
Students and supervisors were provided individualised assessment dates via email prior to placement commencement to avoid any uncertainty in due dates.
Source: Student feedback.
Feedback
Students appreciated the opportunity to speak candidly about placement during the Zoom presentation meetings.
Recommendation
Zoom meetings to again be incorporated into the case study assessment due to the beneficial nature of individual student meetings with the unit coordinator.
Action Taken
Zoom presentation meetings were again incorporated into the case study assessment.
Source: Student emails.
Feedback
Students occasionally needed to seek clarification regarding feedback provided for the case study assessment.
Recommendation
More detailed feedback to be provided to students, improving clarity of where case study submission improvements are required.
Action Taken
The feedback process for case study assessments was enhanced in the current delivery. Students received both rubric-based comments and detailed annotations on their written submissions. This dual-document approach aimed to improve clarity and support targeted improvements.
Source: Student and supervisor emails.
Feedback
Some students and supervisors expressed concern over patient confidentiality while conducting the video recording component of the practical assessment.
Recommendation
Comprehensive instruction to be provided to students and supervisors with guidance on how to exclude the patient and any identifying information during the video recording to ensure patient privacy is respected at all times.
Action Taken
Practical assessment video recording guidelines were provided on Moodle with specific instruction on how to perform the video recording while ensuring respect for patient confidentiality.
Source: SUTE feedback.
Feedback
Students reported that balancing full-time placement with full-time study is exhausting, and they found it challenging to manage the unit's assessment workload.
Recommendation
Transitioning the case study assessment from a written format to a presentation format may reduce the overall workload commitment for students while maintaining academic rigor. This approach aligns with the communication skills required in clinical practice and may enhance learning outcomes and student satisfaction.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE feedback.
Feedback
Students requested additional learning resources and revision materials to support theory retention and its clinical application.
Recommendation
Whilst unit priority is coverage of occupational safety and health and quality assurance content, additional learning resources will be incorporated to support echocardiography and cardiac physiology theory retention and clinical application. A digital repository of case-based questions and answers that students can access for self-paced revision will be developed over subsequent unit deliveries.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student feedback.
Feedback
Students appreciated the pastoral care element incorporated into Zoom meetings.
Recommendation
In addition to continuation with individual Zoom meetings, wellbeing check-ins will be incorporated into group tutorial discussions through structured prompts such as informal opening questions, quick polls or emoji responses. These strategies will aim to foster open dialogue, promote peer support, and embed wellbeing as a valued part of the learning experience.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Perform echocardiographic assessment in the clinical context under supervision
  2. Accurately communicate the outcomes of cardiac assessment including consideration of quality assurance
  3. Apply professional behaviour consistent with safe practice
  4. Analyse, and critically reflect upon, clinical cases involving cardiac ultrasound and other assessment techniques
  5. Attend clinical placement as per external accreditation requirements (Australian Sonographer Accreditation Registry)
  6. Formulate clinically relevant strategies for improvement based on clinical scenarios related to quality improvement, risk management and patient safety culture.

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

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Practical Assessment • •
2 - Performance • •
3 - Professional Practice Placement • •
4 - Learning logs / diaries / Journal / log books • •
5 - Case Study •
6 - Online Quiz(zes) •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Knowledge • • • • •
2 - Communication • • • • • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • • •
4 - Research • •
5 - Self-management • • • • • •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • • • • • •
7 - Leadership • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8