CSN031 Cardiac Ultrasound Clinical Practice 1

Unit Outline: Semester 2 2024, Online

Overview

This unit is the first of three units in which you will progressively develop your clinical practice and experience. This unit builds on basic skills, knowledge and abilities gained in the unit CSN021 Cardiac Ultrasound 1. In this unit, basic instrumentation skills are refined and expanded, and echocardiographic skills are developed through employment and training in a QUT approved clinical department. Clinical skills are evaluated by QUT academic staff and QUT approved clinical supervisors, in consultation with QUT academic staff.

This is a designated unit which is essential to your course progression. Designated units include professional experience units, units requiring the development of particular skills, and units requiring demonstration of certain personal qualities. If you fail to achieve a satisfactory level of performance in a designated unit, you may be excluded from enrolment or will be put on academic probation. If you fail a designated unit twice within your course, you may be excluded. Supplementary assessment is not available on designated units.

Learning Outcomes

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

1. Display the specialised skills necessary to perform a complete adult echocardiographic examination to the standard as described by the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE).
2. Apply knowledge of the physical principles of ultrasound and ultrasound instrumentation, as well as demonstrating the ability to adapt ultrasound instrumentation settings to ensure high quality imaging is performed.
3. Display the ability to interpret ECG rhythms and effectively describe the effect of ECG arrhythmias on M-mode, 2D and spectral Doppler measurements and calculations.
4. Critically examine and analyse the diagnostic accuracy of images and calculations performed during the echocardiographic examination.
5. Demonstrate an advanced level of written and oral communication skills as well as the highest level of patient care during the conduct of all echocardiographic examinations.

Content

Learning Approaches

The unit combines supervised clinical experience in a nominated QUT approved clinical department with a range of formative and summative assessment items undertaken by the student during the period of clinical practice. You will normally undertake supervised ultrasound training no less than 3 days per week (0.6FTE) whilst enrolled. No direct lectures are involved. QUT academic staff are available to discuss issues relating to the clinical practice requirements on an individual basis, as necessary. You will also engage with the teaching team and other students through the use of the online discussion forum for this unit.
This is supported by online tutorials and self-paced activities during O Week to prepare for semester.  You will also engage throughout the semester with online-tutorial quizzes which provide instant feedback on your understanding. There is also an online measurements tutorial website which allows you to practice your measurement techniques on real-life images in a simulated environment and receive instant feedback by viewing the expert-level measurement for that image.
Workplace learning in a multi-disciplinary, clinical setting is supported by your clinical supervisor. 
Clinical supervisors are Accredited Cardiac Sonographers or Echocardiologists as approved by QUT. Clinical supervisors are responsible, in consultation with the student, for ensuring an adequate range and volume of clinical experience is obtained. Supervisors, in consultation with QUT academic staff, are required to monitor and evaluate your clinical progress.

Throughout the course, you are required to record evidence of your clinical experience and competency.  Mandatory completion and submission of your Clinical Portfolio is required for satisfactory completion of the program.  

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Individual formative feedback relating to the case study submissions will be provided via the Canvas site for this unit. Feedback for the case studies are provided as video screencasts which allows the student to see how measurements would be performed correctly, how the image control settings are manipulated and also hear the commentary from the assessors. This reflects real-world practice where a student would review a case with the clinical trainers.

Results for all assessments will be displayed under My Grades on the Canvas site for this unit.

Assessment

Overview

You must receive a satisfactory result in each mandatory assessment item (Assessment 1 and Assessment 2) in order to be awarded a grade of satisfactory in this unit.

Threshold assessment conditions:
In this unit, for you to be eligible to receive a passing grade, threshold assessment conditions apply. If you do not achieve the pass level for an assessment task you are able to make one resubmission of this work for the minimum pass level, only when their achieved mark/grade is within 10% (or 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 resubmission.

Unit Grading Scheme

S (Satisfactory) / U (Unsatisfactory)

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Practical

Practical assessment undertaken to evaluate your proficiency using the non-imaging continuous wave (CW) Doppler probe during a standard transthoracic echo study.  A satisfactory demonstration of technique, measurement accuracy and optimisation skills is required.

The assessment is graded as satisfactory or unsatisfactory against a marking criteria.  A moderation process including cross-marking of submissions ensures individual markers apply standards consistently and fairly.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Threshold Assessment:

Threshold conditions apply.

Assessment: Case Report Portfolio

You will be required to submit a series of case studies demonstrating the performance of comprehensive adult echocardiographic examinations.  This includes 2D, M-mode, spectral Doppler and colour Doppler components of the examination, and all appropriate measurements and calculations required to answer the clinical question.

Submissions are graded as satisfactory / unsatisfactory.  A detailed marking criteria is used for the allocation of grades.  A moderation process including cross-marking of submissions ensures individual markers apply standards consistently and fairly.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Threshold Assessment:

Threshold conditions apply,

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

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.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.