MEDS12004 - Sonographic Skills Development 1

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit prepares you for the clinical workplace through the development of skills in sonographic scanning techniques for the abdomen and urinary tract. You will be required to demonstrate the skills, knowledge and professional behaviours needed to work in a clinical setting, and will be assessed within a simulated environment. This unit prepares you for entry into the sonographic clinical environment using the Assessment of Readiness for Clinical tool (ARC) in conjunction with other assessment tasks.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 12
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 3
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.25
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-requisites:

MEDS12003 Superficial Structures in Ultrasound

AND

MEDS12002 - Abdominal Ultrasound

AND

MEDS12001 Physics of Ultrasound

Co-requisites:

MEDS12006 Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynaecology 

Condition: Continued enrolment in MEDS12004 is conditional upon passing any outstanding assessment pieces in MEDS12001 and MEDS12002 and MEDS12003.

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 2 - 2026 Profile
Brisbane Mackay Melbourne Sydney

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 12-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Practical Assessment 0%
2. Practical Assessment 0%
3. Online Quiz(zes) 0%
4. Written Assessment 0%
5. On-campus Activity 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

Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 77.42% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 27.19% 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 data
Feedback:
 Some students have expressed desire for more regular smaller assessments throughout the term that cover their progress throughout the term before the final skills assessment.

Recommendation:
 Investigate the feasibility of implementing more frequent, smaller assessments during the term to lessen the adverse effects of high-stake evaluations.

Action Taken:
 Three mini assessments were designed and introduced throughout the term to help students better prepare for the final assessment.
Source: SUTE data
Feedback:
 Some students felt that the professional aspects of MEDS12004 should be better integrated into all lab sessions.

Recommendation:
 Consider modification of the already utilised lab student feedback forms to include a dedicated section to track the progress of professional performance.

Action Taken:
 Professional performance was integrated into the documents completed in each lab session. Additionally, a compulsory on-campus professional day was introduced and dedicated to this topic.
Source: SUTE data Student feedback
Feedback:
 Some students identified that the tutorial time was difficult to manage along with lab commitments.

Recommendation:
 Request timetabling changes to ensure the weekly tutorial time is well clear of other competing learning activities.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Source: SUTE data Self-reflection
Feedback:
 A lack of connection was sometimes noted between the protocol and the marking tool by students and tutors.

Recommendation:
 Prioritise review and revision of marking tools and protocol for all modules before the term begins.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

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

  1. Formulate strategies and implement skills necessary to complete sonographic examinations of the abdominal and urinary tract organs.
  2. Recognise the normal sonographic appearances of abdominal and urinary tract organs and identify anatomical variants when present, and discriminate from pathological processes.
  3. Critically reflect and improve upon own professional practice and sonographic psychomotor skills utilising constructive feedback.
  4. Display professional behaviour, teamwork, communication skills and criteria to meet safe sonographic practice and industry expectation.

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 - Practical Assessment • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • •
3 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
4 - Written Assessment •
5 - On-campus Activity •
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 •
5 - Team Work • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • •
8 - Ethical practice • • •
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 10