MEDS13001 - Obstetric and Breast Ultrasound

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit advances your study of obstetric ultrasound from MEDS12006 into the second trimester as well as evaluating the sonographer's role in technique and evaluation of the breast. You will explore the sonographic assessment of normal and pathological obstetric ultrasound and breast ultrasound cases. You will participate in simulated scanning sessions to facilitate the identification of normal sonographic appearance of the second trimester fetus as well as basic breast scanning techniques and lesion localisation. Clinical scenarios are used to engage you in the sonographic decision-making process which expands your knowledge and assists in creating sonographer reports.

Details

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

Prerequisite:

MEDS12006 Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynaecology 1

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 - 2025

Term 1 - 2025 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 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. Practical and Written Assessment 30%
2. Online Quiz(zes) 20%
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 8.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 31.65% 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 comments
Feedback
Some students found the assessment quiz questions more difficult than what was given in the tutorial and practice questions.
Recommendation
Include some more difficult questions in the tutorials and formative quizzes to align more closely with the end of term exam.
Action Taken
A greater variety of questions were included in the tutorials, including longer style questions that were aligned to the end of term exam.
Source: SUTE comments
Feedback
Some students found the unit content unorganized and hard to follow.
Recommendation
Consider including an overview of each topic to allow more cohesion of the each weeks learning.
Action Taken
Topic overviews were included for each week's learning.
Source: SUTE comments
Feedback
Some students found it difficult to discern the 'need to know' information.
Recommendation
Expand on the information in the weekly study plan to assist students' understanding of the important learning requirements for each topic.
Action Taken
More guidance was provided on the important learning for each week to assist students with exam preparation.
Source: SUTE comments
Feedback
Some students found the tutorials lengthy and 'tedious'.
Recommendation
Keep tutorials to the prescribed time with a more succinct delivery of information.
Action Taken
Tutorials were more carefully managed to keep within the prescribed time.
Source: SUTE comments
Feedback
Some students found the weekly tutorial scheduling made it challenging to attend
Recommendation
Review the scheduling of weekly tutorials to align better with students' availability.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE comments
Feedback
Some students found the on campus assessment tutorial cut into their time for completing the practical tasks of the assessment.
Recommendation
Consider recording the assessment information to provide students with more time for the practical tasks of the assessment.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE comments
Feedback
Some students found the lectures lacked depth of explanation and real life examples.
Recommendation
Continue to update lectures using more real life examples and images demonstrating the anatomy and pathology being discussed.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE comments
Feedback
Students found the frequent quizzes useful for helping them stay focused and up to date with the content.
Recommendation
Maintain the four online quizzes to keep students focused and up to date with their learning.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

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

  1. Analyse normal and abnormal obstetric ultrasound findings with reference to embryology, clinical presentation, sonographic appearance and aetiology
  2. Analyse normal and abnormal breast ultrasound findings with reference to anatomy, clinical presentation, sonographic appearance, aetiology and correlation with other breast imaging modalities
  3. Analyse clinical scenarios to provide a differential diagnosis and produce sonographic reports
  4. Formulate strategies for the provision of safe and ethical patient care
  5. Apply sonographic techniques and diagnostic criteria, appropriate to obstetric and breast ultrasound respectively, to produce and analyse limited examinations in a simulated environment.

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 7 & 10

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Practical and Written Assessment • •
2 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
3 - Examination • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • •
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