CSB536 Clinical Therapeutics for Podiatrists
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | CSB536 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | CSB532 and CSB530 |
| Corequisite(s): | CSH534 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $1,192 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $4,704 |
| International unit fee | $5,784 |
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2026, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | CSB536 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | CSB532 and CSB530 |
| Coordinator: | Steven Walmsley | steven.walmsley@qut.edu.au |
Overview
This unit builds on foundational studies in physiology, disease processes, pharmacology, and pharmacotherapeutics, addressing the evolving role of podiatrists in prescribing for podiatric conditions. You will learn about sustainable and ethical practice, integrating diverse perspectives, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, and digital practices to equip you with real-world skills needed for contemporary podiatric practice. You will develop critical thinking skills and professional responsibility, preparing for safe prescribing and administering medications for treatment of conditions within the scope of podiatric practice. The unit fosters a global perspective, emphasizing the impact of prescribing decisions on patients, communities, and systems, through collaboration, culturally responsive care, and evidence-based practice.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Apply the legal, ethical, and professional responsibilities associated with prescribing medicines, guided by the principles outlined in the National Prescribing Competencies Framework
- Research, critically appraise, and apply evidence from professional sources (e.g., Therapeutic Guidelines, AMH, and digital prescribing tools) to support evidence-based prescribing decisions.
- Assess and integrate a patient’s medical, medication, podiatric, and social history, including cultural determinants of health, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, to prescribe appropriate medicines as part of podiatric management plans.
- Prescribe medicines in alignment with the principles of quality use of medicines, sustainable healthcare, and safe prescribing practices, collaborating effectively within interprofessional healthcare teams to optimise patient outcomes.
Content
Specialised knowledge and skills:
- Quality use of medicines
- Culturally safe patient consultation, clinical decision-making and therapy, including monitoring and referral
- Communication with patients and/or carers concerning adherence and/or concordance with medicines, incorporating diverse cultural perspectives, including the ways of knowing and doing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, with an emphasis on building trust and delivering culturally safe care
- Patient examination, assessment, and history taking, with an emphasis on medication history and reconciliation
- Diagnostic testing interpretation, application, and integration into therapeutic management plans
- Modification and cessation of medicines in response to clinical indices
- Prescription writing
- Prescribing in a team context, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration
- Incorporation of sustainable healthcare practices, ensuring responsible resource use, minimization of waste, and long-term patient health outcomes, including antimicrobial stewardship to combat resistance
- Clinical pharmacology, including implications of co-morbidities, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, complementary and alternative therapies, adverse drug reactions/events, and drug interactions
- Industry-relevant digital practices, including the use of e-prescribing systems and clinical decision-support tools, as well as engagement with resources such as the Therapeutic Guidelines, AMH, and MIMS
- National and international guidelines for safe prescribing (World Health Organisation, National Prescribing Service Guidelines, NSQHS Standards – Medication Safety Standard)
- Best practice pathways for pharmacological management of podiatric disorders in relation to the list of medicines approved by the Podiatry Board of Australia
- Practice within applicable legislative and regulatory frameworks, including the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, Therapeutic Goods Act, and Poisons Standard (SUSMP)
- Practice in accordance with professional standards and codes of conduct, including the National Prescribing Competency Framework and the Podiatry Board of Australia’s Code of Conduct
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn through weekly online lectures that cover essential concepts in pharmacotherapeutics, clinical pharmacology, and the quality use of medicines. These lectures will provide the foundational knowledge required for safe prescribing and evidence-based practice.
You will also participate in weekly online tutorials, applying this knowledge to real-world scenarios through case-based discussions and problem-solving activities. These sessions will help you develop skills in prescription writing, diagnostic testing interpretation, and culturally safe patient consultations, incorporating ethical, legal, and patient-centered perspectives.
Formative weekly quizzes will support your learning by reinforcing core concepts and tracking your progress. You will also engage in self-directed learning tasks, where you will review online materials, such as therapeutic guidelines, to strengthen your information literacy and prepare for tutorials.
Completion of the weekly quizzes and lectures before tutorials is expected to ensure active participation. The unit’s digital strategy supports your ability to access and appraise online therapeutic databases, promoting sustainable healthcare practices. The Real World Learning components will prepare you to apply your knowledge to clinical challenges faced by podiatrists, enhancing your readiness for professional practice.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Formative feedback on your progress in this unit will include self, peer, and staff reflection on your achievement of skills with reference to the National Accreditation Standards criteria. Peer feedback will be incorporated through structured learning activities, where students will review and provide constructive feedback on each other’s case analyses and prescribing rationales. These structured activities will encourage collaborative learning and support the development of critical thinking in clinical decision-making. Verbal staff feedback will also be provided during class. The assessment items are structured across the semester to allow feedback from peers, staff, and self-reflection to guide ongoing performance improvement.
Assessment
Overview
Each assessment item is designed to measure your ability to apply the knowledge and skills stated in the unit learning outcomes.
Special Conditions of Assessment
The learning outcomes in this unit address elements of the Podiatry Accreditation Standards. The Podiatry Board of Australia recognises these competencies as the minimum standards for professional practice. As such, this unit contains specified threshold assessment conditions.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Case Study
This assessment requires you to apply evidence-based pharmaceutical knowledge to manage podiatric conditions within a case scenario. This assessment is designed to build critical thinking, reflective abilities, and engagement with the literature. You will demonstrate skills in accessing relevant databases, applying regulatory frameworks, and utilising treatments within a podiatrist’s scope of practice. Feedback will support your preparation for future assessments and professional practice.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details page for specific guidelines.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Viva Voce
In this assessment, you will participate in a viva voce examination based on a simulated patient case to demonstrate the principles of competent, culturally responsive, and safe person-centred prescribing practice. Aligned with the NPS Prescribing Competencies Framework, this assessment requires you to consider cultural safety and diverse patient needs, including those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited during this assessment.
Threshold Assessment:
Threshold conditions apply to this assessment item. If you do not achieve satisfactory performance, you will be permitted one reattempt at the minimum pass level, only when your achieved grade is within 1 grade of the pass level for the assessment item. You are advised to seek feedback on your submission from the unit coordinator prior to your reattempt.
Assessment: Examination (Theory)
This written examination assesses your theoretical knowledge of clinical pharmacology and its application to holistic patient management. Aligned with the AHPRA Threshold Competency Standards for Podiatrists, the exam ensures you meet the minimum knowledge requirements for professional registration and eligibility to pursue Endorsement for Scheduled Medicines (ESM). The assessment includes multiple-choice questions and short written responses to evaluate critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited during this assessment.
Threshold Assessment:
Threshold conditions apply to this assessment item. If you do not achieve satisfactory performance, you will be permitted one reattempt at the minimum pass level, only when your achieved grade is within 1 grade of the pass level for the assessment item. You are advised to seek feedback on your submission from the unit coordinator prior to your reattempt.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Resource Materials
Recommended text(s)
Australian Medicines Handbook. (Current Edition). Adelaide, SA: AMH Pty Ltd. Electronic version available through QUT Library Databases website.
Therapeutic Guidelines. (Current Edition). Melbourne, VIC; Therapeutic Guidelines Ltd. Electronic version available through QUT Library Databases website.
De Vries., and et al. Guide to good prescribing: A practice manual. Geneva: WHO.
MIMS. (Current Edition). Sydney, NSW: MIMS Australia and UBM Media Pty Ltd. Electronic version available through QUT Library Databases website.
NPS MedicineWise Prescribing Competencies (current edition).
Queensland Medicines and Poisons (Medicines Regulation) 2021. Available at: https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/sl-2021-0140
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with this unit. You will be made aware of evacuation procedures and assembly areas in the first few lectures. In the event of a fire alarm sounding, or on a lecturer's instruction, you should leave the room and assemble in the designated area, which will be indicated to you. You should be conscious of your health and safety at all times whilst on campus.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.CS44 Bachelor of Podiatry
- Critically evaluate and integrate specialised discipline knowledge of body systems, pathology, podiatric medicine and therapeutics in real-world settings.
Relates to: Viva Voce, Examination (Theory) - Employ information literacy, evidence-based professional reasoning and shared decision-making to safely and effectively undertake person-centred management for diverse lower limb conditions through assessment, investigation, diagnosis and evaluation.
Relates to: Case Study, Viva Voce - Implement safe and effective assessment and management of patients, using highly developed clinical and technical skills, exercising reflexive, ethical, sustainable and culturally responsive practice, within regulatory and legal frameworks.
Relates to: Case Study, Viva Voce, Examination (Theory) - Uphold, promote and advocate for the culture and practice of safety, quality assurance and risk management in diverse health care environments and populations, while recognizing personal accountability and responsibility for sustainable and culturally safe systems, and embracing diverse perspectives and innovative health care solutions.
Relates to: Viva Voce, Examination (Theory)
CS46 Bachelor of Podiatry (Honours)
- Critically evaluate and integrate advanced specialised knowledge of body systems, pathology, podiatric medicine and therapeutics in real-world settings.
Relates to: Viva Voce, Examination (Theory) - Employ research skills in parallel with evidence-based professional reasoning and shared decision-making to safely and effectively undertake person-centred management for diverse lower limb conditions through assessment, investigation, diagnosis and evaluation.
Relates to: Case Study, Viva Voce - Implement safe and effective assessment and management of patients, using highly developed clinical and technical skills, exercising reflexive, ethical, sustainable and culturally responsive practice, within regulatory and legal frameworks.
Relates to: Case Study, Viva Voce, Examination (Theory) - Uphold, promote and advocate for the culture and practice of safety, quality assurance and risk management in diverse health care environments and populations, while recognizing personal accountability and responsibility for sustainable and culturally safe systems, embracing diverse perspectives and demonstrating emergent leadership of innovative health care solutions through research.
Relates to: Viva Voce, Examination (Theory)