MEDS12002 - Abdominal Ultrasound

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit explores the abdomen, specifically normal and pathological ultrasound examinations. Online lectures and interactive Zoom tutorials are used to lay the foundation for this knowledge. Sonography images and scanning videos, both of normal and abnormal abdominal organs, are used to familiarise you with how things appear on ultrasound. This unit prepares you for not only MEDS12004 Sonographic Skills Development 1 where you will scan normal abdomens, but also for clinical placement, where patients' pathologies need to be detected by the sonographer. This unit will also allow you to develop the skills required to read and understand patient request forms, including what clinical tests have been done on the presenting patient, and what these tests and results are indicating in terms of areas of concern the referring doctor is looking for in the patient.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 3
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite

MEDS11001 Fundamentals of Sonographic Practice

AND

Prerequisite

MEDS11002 Relational Anatomy and Image Recognition

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
Online

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 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. Online Quiz(zes) 20%
2. Online Test 30%
3. 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%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 77.42% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 26.05% 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: Student feedback, SUTE, UC observation
Feedback
Some students would like more practise describing images with answers provided.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator will look for more opportunities to incorporate practise images including descriptions for students.
Action Taken
Students were provided with more opportunities to practise image descriptions, including an individualised one where they submitted a description for personalised feedback.
Source: Student feedback, UC observation
Feedback
The PASS sessions are proving very valuable to students, with higher success and positive experiences from students who attend these.
Recommendation
Encourage more students to attend the PASS sessions as it can have a very positive affect on their progress in this unit.
Action Taken
PASS sessions were again well attended. The PASS leader has made this very easy for students as he is very good at this role and is well liked amongst the students.
Source: Student feedback, SUTE, UC observation
Feedback
Students are finding the interactive tutorials very encouraging and beneficial for their learning as they help to scaffold their learning within the unit. Some state that they are quite long though, as most go for 2 hours.
Recommendation
Continue tutorials in the same format but incorporate a 10-minute break after an hour to allow students (and unit coordinator) to stretch, refresh, and start again. This will also allow the recording to be two smaller ones, allowing easier viewing.
Action Taken
A break was incorporated in the tutorials after an hour. This worked well and will continue with future deliveries of the unit.
Source: UC observation, student feedback.
Feedback
Extended focus was placed on teaching the importance of correct measurements, and this was reflected in high marks most students got for measurement questions.
Recommendation
Extended focus on teaching correct measurements will continue in future deliveries of the unit.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: UC observation, SUTE data.
Feedback
Some students have challenges with differentiating descriptive sonographic terms up until late in the term. SUTE data indicated some students thought this was the first time they had learned this information.
Recommendation
Investigate the use of Moodle interactive games to engage students in learning descriptive sonographic terms.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE data, student feedback via email.
Feedback
Students find the interactive tutorials fun and very beneficial for their learning as they help to scaffold their learning within the unit. Use of real-world analogies and "everyday props" for understanding complex concepts or knowledge has been much appreciated.
Recommendation
Tutorials will continue in the same format as this year's delivery of the unit.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Describe anatomical structures and commonly encountered pathologies on sonographic images and videos of the abdomen, using appropriate anatomical and sonographic terminology
  2. Differentiate the clinical indications, sonographic appearance, and aetiology of abdominal pathologies
  3. Explain the relevance of laboratory data in relation to sonographic imaging of the abdomen
  4. Analyse clinical scenarios to provide a pathological differential diagnosis and to produce a sonographic report

The learning outcomes for this unit relate to the requirements of general sonography courses under the Australasian Sonography Accreditation Registry (ASAR), Standards for the Accreditation of Sonographer Courses (SASC):

Foundation Units of Competence 1-5

Critical Practice Units of Competence 6

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • •
2 - Online Test • • •
3 - Examination • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10