Unit Synopsis
This unit is the first of two that examine the relational anatomy of the human body and develop your pattern recognition skills in radiographic appearances of anatomical structures. The focus of this unit is on the musculoskeletal structures of the extremities, shoulder girdle and pelvic girdle. You will apply your knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology to studying the development, change through the lifespan and change due to injury and disease of bones and joints in those anatomical regions. For each bone and joint you will study its morphology and spatial characteristics relative to adjacent structures and external landmarks. You will apply that knowledge to building your awareness of radiographic appearances of these structures, including standard appearances, normal variants, injuries and diseases. You will build your vocabulary of radiographic terminology in describing image appearances of anatomical structures and their positional relationships with other structures. You will learn to articulate a reasoned decision in interpreting radiographic appearances at an introductory level.
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 |
Prerequisites:
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 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. In-class Test(s) | 30% |
| 2. Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) | 20% |
| 3. In-class Test(s) | 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 .
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 83.33% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 31.58% 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, emails from students and verbal comments by students in class
Students appreciated the hands-on learning in the anatomy labs and were disappointed that labs were not scheduled every week due to public holidays.
Investigate the potential to schedule lab classes on a different day so that students are not impacted significantly by public holidays.
In Progress
Source: SUTE and verbal comments by students in class
Some students would appreciate answers to lab sessions to be given to assist with learning.
Investigate methods of supporting students without creating a passive learning environment where students are not expected to work out answers.
In Progress
Source: Coordinator reflection
Image evaluation is complex, with several aspects to any given scenario. This can sometimes make students feel slightly overwhelmed with the volume of response needed.
Consider splitting the tutorial class into groups for some questions and have groups discuss one aspect of image interpretation, ready to report that one aspect to the class as a whole.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Identify on projection radiographs specific anatomical musculoskeletal structures of the upper and lower extremities, shoulder girdle and pelvis
- Discuss the development, changes through the lifespan and changes due to injuries and diseases of bones and joints of the upper and lower extremities, shoulder girdle and pelvis
- For each bone and joint of the upper and lower extremities, shoulder girdle and pelvis, describe its morphology and spatial characteristics relative to adjacent structures and surface landmarks
- Employ standard professional terminology and conventions in describing anatomical features, locations and positional relationships of musculoskeletal structures and in describing radiographic appearances of those structures
- Apply knowledge of anatomy and pathophysiology and skill in pattern recognition in predicting and interpreting normal and abnormal radiographic appearances of the musculoskeletal structures of the upper and lower extremities, shoulder girdle and pelvis
- Present a reasoned judgment in predicting and interpreting normal and abnormal radiographic appearances of the musculoskeletal structures of the upper and lower extremities, shoulder girdle and pelvis.
This unit maps to the following components of the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia's Professional Capabilities for Medical Radiation Practice:
Domains 1.1 and 1.7
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) | • | • | • | • | ||
| 3 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | • | • | • | • |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | ||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | • | ||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | • | ||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |