Unit Synopsis
Identification of the characteristic histopathological and cytopathological features of human organ systems and the hallmarks of pathological dysregulation of tissue organisation is fundamental to the work of the medical laboratory scientist. In this unit you will study normal and abnormal histopathological features of a range of tissues along with normal and abnormal cytopathological features of a range of cells. The relationship between cellular injury, immune response, tumour formation, infection and pathological dysregulation of tissue organisation will be explored in relation to clinical cases you may encounter. You will develop the knowledge and skills to perform microscopic examination of tissues and cells. Case studies will include new developments in immunohistochemistry and fluorescence imaging. You will be required to attend a compulsory residential school for development and assessment of your skill in histological and cytological techniques. The residential school may be scheduled outside of the term of offering of the unit.
Details
| Level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 9 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisites: Enrolment in Master of Laboratory Medicine. 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).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate 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. Poster Sessions | 25% |
| 2. Oral Examination | 25% |
| 3. Laboratory/Practical | 0% |
| 4. Examination | 50% |
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.
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 and self reflection
Rethink assessment structure
Consider changing assessment 2 (quizzes) to an invigilated approach.
The quizzes are no longer an assessment item, and have been replaced by live oral viva voce assessments.
Source: Student verbal feedback
Students unsure how to approach the essay-type examination questions and the response expectations.
Consider restructuring the final examination and dedicate a tutorial on example essay questions.
The final examination has been restructured to allow for more closed-answer style questions. More direction is given within essay-type questions by way of breaking up the question into smaller parts and prompting the student to answer each segment according to marks available.
Source: SUTE, email and verbal feedback
Teaching staff were appreciated.
Consider retaining current selection of industry professional teaching staff for continuity and consistency.
Teaching staff have been maintained, with new staff added to the Sydney campus.
Source: SUTE
Some students found the Viva voce assessment difficult due to the large number of questions within the question bank and consider this assessment not being a hurdle
Students were given the question bank of about 200 questions covering weeks 1-5 before the viva of which eight would be randomly selected for assessment. The bank does not hold 200 "unique" questions, some questions cover a specific topic multiple times to re-enforce the subject content for the benefit of the student. Decreasing the number of questions would have a negative impact for learning, especially when students revise for the end of term exam. Taking away the "hurdle" status will be done since this unit already has the residential school and invigilated exam as other hurdle assessments.
In Progress
Source: SUTE
Some students felt that they should be allowed to bring an A4 "cheat sheet" to the invigilated exam
There is no need for "cheat sheets" because there are no complex equations of formulas that the students need help with recalling in this unit. The exam is asking students to demonstrate their acquired knowledge and understanding of laboratory concepts and real world applications. For example, students are not required to memorise the exact steps in a Masson's trichrome staining protocol, they are expected to know what the staining demonstrates and in what clinical context it is relevant. Although students are not allowed to bring a "cheat sheet", they are provided a blank sheet for rough brainstorming.
In Progress
Source: Self reflection
The timing of the residential school for weeks 11 and 12 took away students' opportunity for SWOTVAC revision before end of term exams
The Melbourne and Sydney cohort felt the residential school would have been better scheduled earlier in the teaching term. This request and the accompanying logistics is being considered for 2027.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Critique changes in anatomical pathology techniques and how they have improved diagnosis
- Apply professional knowledge of inflammatory processes and tissue responses to clinical contexts
- Demonstrate skills in histological and cytological techniques, including the process of sectioning, antigen retrieval and staining
- Apply professional knowledge of the neoplastic process, grading and staging of neoplasms and gene expression to clinical contexts
- Discuss the principles, mechanisms, requirements and the application of use for special stain procedures and specialised fixation techniques in histology and cytology.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Poster Sessions | • | ||||
| 2 - Oral Examination | • | • | • | ||
| 3 - Laboratory/Practical | • | ||||
| 4 - Examination | • | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | • | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Communication | • | • | • | • | • |
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | • | • | • | • | • |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |