Unit Synopsis
In this unit you will advance your knowledge and skills in the assessment and management of complex musculoskeletal conditions, with a focus on developing and refining your clinical reasoning and manual therapy skills. The unit will foster an evidence-based and client-centred approach to physiotherapy management of acute sporting injuries, orthopaedic surgery, complex spinal and peripheral conditions, chronic disease and persisting pain, across the lifespan. Complex clinical presentations will be explored in the context of biological, social and psychological factors that influence client recovery and participation.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 3 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
To enrol in this unit you must be enrolled in the CB85 Course and meet the following pre-requisite: PSIO12005 Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy 2 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) | 20% |
| 2. In-class Test(s) | 30% |
| 3. Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) | 50% |
| 4. On-campus Activity | 0% |
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 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 15.38% 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 Unit Teaching Evaluation
Students thoroughly enjoyed the guest lecturer sessions.
It is recommended that these sessions be continued and possibly expanded to include new teaching members from the local physiotherapy community.
All guest lecturer sessions were offered again this year.
Source: Verbal Feedback
Students were appreciative of the inclusion of weekly formative quizzes on Moodle.
It is recommended that these quizzes be included in future offerings of the unit.
The weekly online quiz knowledge checks were offered again this year.
Source: Student Unit Evaluation of Teaching (SUTE)
Some students felt the case study session became a bit repetitive and they lost interest.
It is recommended that these sessions be reviewed and revised to increase the practical requirements (e.g., add extra activities) and reduce the downtime spent reading case material.
In Progress
Source: Student Unit Evaluation of Teaching (SUTE)
Students valued the highly practical and hands-on focused sessions and the expertise of the tutors.
It is recommended that all practical sessions include several practical and hands-on based activities to enhance student engagment and learning.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Demonstrate theoretical and applied knowledge of pathophysiology, symptomatology, clinical course and prognosis for complex musculoskeletal conditions
- Develop, implement and evaluate evidence-based assessment and treatment for clients with complex musculoskeletal conditions
- Explain how biological, social, and psychological factors inform a physiotherapy intervention plan for clients with complex musculoskeletal conditions
- Describe the role of the physiotherapist within an interprofessional team in the management of clients with complex musculoskeletal conditions
- Demonstrate acceptable professional and ethical behaviours consistent with a physiotherapy practitioner.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - In-class Test(s) | • | ||||
| 2 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | • | ||
| 3 - Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) | • | • | • | • | |
| 4 - On-campus Activity | • | ||||
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • | |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | ||
| 5 - Team Work | • | • | |||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | • | • | ||
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | • | • | |
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |