Welcome to Medical Imaging Studies 1 (RADY 2009). This is the first of four 'Medical Imaging Studies' courses in the Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science (Medical Imaging).

In this course, students will be introduced to the fundamental concepts which will form the basis of their future radiography careers.  Many principles from your past anatomy, physiology, pathology and physics courses will be applied in this course, as we expand into more radiography-specific content.

The course will be delivered via lectures, seminars, practicals and tutorials. Lectures and seminars will be conducted online and accessed under the weekly tabs on LearnOnline. For successful completion of the course, it is strongly recommended for students to attend all practical and tutorial sessions. Prior to attending practicals and tutorials, it is advised that students address the week's lecture material and recommended readings, in order to guide their learning and maximize the time spent in these sessions. This approach will enable you to actively participate and engage in helpful discussion. Your university clinical uniform, closed-in shoes, a current Luxel and name badge are required for participation in practical sessions. Unfortunately, students will not be permitted to be involved in the practical sessions without these items. The practical sessions will commence in week one with all practical sessions commencing on the hour.  Another important item required for practicals and clinical placement, are radiographic (left and right) markers.  The markers can be purchased from Campus Central. 

At any time clarification is required regarding the course, please feel free in contacting me via the discussion forum on LearnOnline, email, telephone or in-person.

I hope you find this course both interesting and enjoyable. All the very best with your studies.

Elio Arruzza

Course Coordinator
Elio.Arruzza@unisa.edu.au / 8302 1241 / BJ1-29B

 

Internal mode includes face to face/in person components such as lectures, tutorials, practicals, workshops or seminars that may be offered at a University campus or delivered at another location. Courses delivered in internal mode may also be offered intensively allowing them to be completed in a shorter period of time. There is an expectation that students will be physically present for the delivery of face to face/in person teaching and learning activities.

Lecture

Student information

A lecture is delivery of course content either in person, or online in a virtual classroom, that builds on the course readings and pre-lecture requirements for you and other students in the course. The primary purpose of the lecture is to comprehensively describe and explain course content, ideas or skills to provide a foundation on which students build understanding through extended study. Lectures may also be pre-recorded and embedded in online courses.

All students are expected to have undertaken required readings and assigned activities prior to the lecture.

Seminar

Student information

A seminar is facilitated learning either in person, or online in a virtual classroom environment, in which you and other students in the course are expected to develop, and be prepared to demonstrate an understanding of specific assigned material in the course via guided discussion by an expert academic or guest speaker. You may also be asked to discuss assigned material in the context of a broader framework of knowledge.

All students are expected to be familiar with relevant assigned source material prior to participation, and to actively engage in group discussions, activities and/or presentation.
 

Tutorial

Student information

A tutorial can be conducted either in person or online in a virtual classroom. A tutorial is a facilitated group discussion, where your tutor leads analyses of issues and/or more detailed explanations related to the topics provided to you in online resources and/or lectures.

All students are expected to be familiar with relevant lecture content and readings prior to a tutorial and to participate actively in the related activities assigned for preparation. Tutorials may include a range of activities, including problem solving, group work, practical activities, and presentations.

Demonstration/Practical class

Student information

A demonstration/practical class is a session with the primary purpose of demonstrating skills and practising those skills in a supported and guided environment. These classes are critical in developing skills through the application of theory and acquired knowledge in a practical setting.

All students are expected to be familiar with prerequisite knowledge from their program of study, relevant lecture and/or seminar and/or tutorial content, and materials provided and assessments relevant to the demonstration, prior to a demonstration/practical class.All students are expected to actively participate and contribute to the demonstration/practical class where required.

 

 

Elio Arruzza
Course Coordinator
BJ1-29B
Elio.Arruzza@unisa.edu.au
8302 1241 

HLTH 1026 Medical Radiation Human Anatomy

MEDI 2006 Pathology for Medical Radiation

PHYS 1017 Physics for Medical Radiation 2

There are no corequisite courses to be completed in conjunction with this course.

To develop  knowledge, skills and attitudes for Medical Imaging clinical practice.

On completion of this course, students should be able to:

CO1. Demonstrate competency in a simulated environment to accurately perform basic radiographic procedures of the extremities, thorax, abdomen and pelvis.

CO2. Produce images using computed radiography (CR) and digital radiography (DR) equipment and implement post-processing techniques.

CO3. Evaluate and interpret radiographic images for inaccuracies and basic pathologies, and suggest how these findings can be corrected.

CO4. Explain the theoretical knowledge behind image formation with reference to the x-ray equipment and data storage methods.

CO5. Formulate strategies to attend to patient care, comfort, safety, communication, confidentiality, privacy and duty of care, in accordance with relevant guidelines such as the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) standards.

CO6. Implement proper radiation safety behaviours and principles relating to optimisation, justification and limitation within the radiographic context at a beginner level.

CO7. Develop an awareness of relevant professional bodies and their role within the medical imaging landscape.

Upon completion of this course, students will have achieved the following combination of Graduate Qualities and Course Objectives:

A graduate of UniSA:

GQ1. operates effectively with and upon a body of knowledge of sufficient depth to begin professional practice

GQ2. is prepared for life-long learning in pursuit of personal development and excellence in professional practice

GQ3. is an effective problem solver, capable of applying logical, critical, and creative thinking to a range of problems

GQ4. can work both autonomously and collaboratively as a professional

GQ5. is committed to ethical action and social responsibility as a professional and citizen

GQ6. communicates effectively in professional practice and as a member of the community

GQ7. demonstrates international perspectives as a professional and as a citizen

Principles of Computer Radiography and Digital Radiography; PACS; accurate positioning techniques and image evaluation of the upper and lower extremities, thorax, abdomen and shoulder and pelvic girdles; radiographic equipment (including accessories); automatic exposures, exposure factors; patient care, privacy and communication; radiation safety.

4.5 units

This course will involve the production of audio and/or video recordings of UniSA students. To protect student privacy, you must not at any time disclose, reproduce or publish these recordings, or related material, in the public domain including online, unless the videoed students give consent for reproduction, disclosure or publication. This requirement is consistent with University statutes, by-laws, policies, rules and guidelines which you agreed to abide by when you signed the Student Enrolment Declaration.

Students must seek permission prior to recording any UniSA learning activity. See A-56 Policy Student recording of learning activities (https://i.unisa.edu.au/siteassets/policies-and-procedures/docs/academic/a56_student-recording-of-learning-activities.pdf)

Breaches of this Policy contravene the principles of academic integrity, and attract the penalties provided in the Academic Integrity Procedure (https://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/university-policies/).

In the 'Practical Manual' provided, are written rules and regulations concerning working in the x-ray suites and radiation safety. Strict adherence to these rules is required at all times.
Any incidences occurring in the x-ray suites are to be reported, following submission of an incident form supplied by the course coordinator on request. 
Any misconduct during practicals or any other time may preclude you from attending practical sessions.

Due to the focus on developing professional competencies and behaviours, attendance for all tutorials and practicals is highly recommended for successful completion of this course. 

Attendance will be recorded at practical sessions.

There are no textbooks listed for this course.

All course related materials are available on your learnonline course site which you will be able to access from the ‘my Current Studies’ section in myUniSA (https://my.unisa.edu.au).

Access to Previous Courses
You will have access to your previous course sites for a period of 4 years. After this time, the course sites will be archived and will be unavailable.

Note: Course readings provided via the University Library are only made available to current students and staff due to licensing and copyright restrictions. Students may download their course readings while they are enrolled in the course for their personal research purposes only.

Academic integrity is the foundation of university life and is fundamental to the reputation of UniSA and its staff and students. Academic integrity means a commitment by all staff and students to act with honesty, trustworthiness, fairness, respect and responsibility in all academic work.

An important part of practising integrity in academic work is showing respect for other people's ideas and being honest about how they have contributed to your work. This means taking care not to represent the work of others as your own. Using another person's work without proper acknowledgement is considered Academic Misconduct, and the University takes this very seriously.

The University of South Australia expects students to demonstrate the highest standards of academic integrity so that its qualifications are earned honestly and are trusted and valued by its students and their employers. To ensure this happens, the University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. For example, work submitted electronically by students for assessment will be examined for copied and un-referenced text using the text comparison software Turnitin http://www.turnitin.com.

 

It is an offence for any person or company to provide academic cheating services to students of Australian universities, irrespective of whether the service is provided by an Australian or overseas operator (see Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Amendment (Prohibiting Academic Cheating Services) Bill 2019 - https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2020A00078). “Academic cheating services” includes providing or undertaking work for students, where that work forms a substantial part of an assessment task.

More information about academic integrity and what constitutes academic misconduct can be found in the Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure (https://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/university-policies/academic/ab-69).

To learn more on academic integrity and how to avoid academic misconduct, please refer to the Academic Integrity Module: https://lo.unisa.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=252142

All students must adhere to the University of South Australia's procedures about assessment: http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/.

Details of assessment submission and return are listed under each assessment task. Assessment tasks will be returned to you within 15 working days of submission.

 

Cover sheets

 

A cover sheet is not required for assessment tasks submitted via learnonline, as the system automatically generates one.

 

If the Course Coordinator allows submissions in hard copy format, you will be required to attach an Assignment Cover Sheet which is available on the learnonline student help (https://lo.unisa.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=1843&chapterid=567) and in myUniSA.

 

Further information on re-marking and re-submission is available in the academic policy, AB-68 P4 Re-marking and Re-submission Procedure

Codes of Conduct

Through the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) 'Code of conduct' (2022, p.5), the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia (MRPBA) expects that:
'…practitioners have a duty to put the care of patients first and to practise safely and effectively..'

The Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (ASMIRT) include the following statement in their 'Guidelines for professional conduct' (2017, p.3):
'The prime concern of the Medical Radiation Professional shall be the welfare and safety of patient/clients, staff and the public.'

Whilst similar, there are differences between the AHPRA ‘Code of conduct’ and ASMIRT ‘Guidelines for professional conduct’ both in content and in consequences, should the medical radiation professional be found in breach of either or both of these documents. In this assessment, you are tasked with discussing the above statements with particular inclusion of the following aspects:

• Explain both of these statements and their codes, using each code to support your writing. What aspects of radiography/healthcare do they involve? How are they similar? How are they different? Furthermore, discuss the importance of these statements. Why are they in place?
• Explain the consequences of breaching the AHPRA 'Code of Conduct' and ASMIRT 'Guidelines for professional conduct'.
• How might these codes be incorporated into daily practice by medical radiation professionals? How might you incorporate them as a student on placement?

Your discussion should use examples of clinical situations to support your points. It is expected that you reference the AHPRA and ASMIRT codes where appropriate, as well as any other supporting resources.

• Word limit (excluding titles and reference list, but including in-text references) is 1500 words.
• This assignment is to be submitted as a Microsoft Word document.
• Submission of this assignment is through the 'submission point' on LearnOnline.
• Format: size 12 font, 1.5 line spacing, 2.5 margins all around.
• Referencing Style: UniSA Harvard, author date.
• A late penalty of 10% reduction of available marks applies per day including weekends.
• A copy of the feedback form for this assessment item is available on the LearnOnline site.

Further information on re-marking and re-submission is available in the academic policy, AB-68 P4 Re-marking and Re-submission Procedure

Component I: e-Portfolio

This component aims to demonstrate the application of coursework theory in the simulated practical setting. Your ePortfolio will be based on your practical work during the semester, both in the x-ray suites and using Shaderware (virtual radiography) software. Students will be provided a 'Practical Manual' at the first practical session. The manual is to be brought to all practical sessions in the x-ray suite. The 'Practical Manual' contains all the information you will require for practical sessions during the course. Each weekly practical will have an e-Portfolio requirement based on the learning task/s required, to be completed after the practical. Though the e-portfolio is due at the end of the semester, it is strongly recommended that students attend to their e-portfolio requirements weekly, to avoid excessive work nearing the due date. The majority of tasks within the 'Practical Manual' involve the use of radiation, and therefore, it is not possible to complete these outside of your designated practical session. Pre-reading of the content for each week is essential in order to maximize the learning opportunity with the x-ray equipment.

Any material requiring referencing will use the UniSA Harvard Author-Date style. Several resources have been made available under the 'Textbooks & Resources' tab on the LearnOnline site to assist students.

The completed e-Portfolio is to be submitted via LearnOnline by the due date.

A late submission penalty of 10% reduction of available marks applies per day including weekends.

Component II: Practical Competency Assessment

This assessment enables the student to demonstrate selected clinical exanimations, in a simulated clinical environment, on a simulated patient.

Assessments will occur during the scheduled practical time in the final teaching week for Medical Imaging Studies 1 (week beginning 5th June, 2023). A timetable of individual times will be posted on the LearnOnline page closer to the date. Students must demonstrate a specific practical examination selected from two of the following areas learnt during the semester:

• Shoulder
• Pelvis/Hip
• Upper limb
• Lower limb
• Abdomen
• Chest/Thorax

Students will be allocated to one of the four x-ray rooms in the BJ Building at UniSA - City East Campus, and are to bring their 'Practical Manual' on the day. The examination required will be determined by the assessor on the day. Therefore, it is important to be prepared to demonstrate any of the projections from any of the listed regions. Each examination will include a ‘mock’ request form indicating a brief clinical history and area to be examined. Students will be required, based on the information on the request, to suggest the projections in a series for the 'patient'. Students will then be asked to demonstrate one projection for each examination, which will be selected by the assessor (two in total). It is the students' responsibility to bring radiographic markers to use for the examination and to wear full clinical uniform, name badge and Luxel. A total of 15 minutes will be provided to perform the selected examinations (approximately 7.5 minutes per examination). When the 15 minutes has elapsed, students will be asked to cease their examination. Marking criteria for the practical assessment can be found within the Practical Manual and on LearnOnline.
To be deemed competent in this assessment, you must pass the following sections:

1. Safe Practice - Appropriate personal and patient safety, safe application of radiographic equipment, safe application of manual handling
2. Professional Conduct - Punctuality, uniform, name badge and Luxel visible and maintenance of strict patient confidentiality
3. Diagnostic Image - The demonstration should be deemed to produce a diagnostic image. If the examiner believes that the examination, as performed by you, will not produce a diagnostic image, a reduction of 50% of the marks achieved for the non-diagnostic image will be applied.

Further information on re-marking and re-submission is available in the academic policy, AB-68 P4 Re-marking and Re-submission Procedure

The examination will be conducted online (on Learnonline). The time available to complete the examination is three hours, though it is based on two hours worth of content (an extra hour has been provided). It will assess any part of the syllabus covered in lectures, seminars, tutorials or practicals.

Questions may require both short answer and/or long answer responses focused on imaging scenarios, image critique, image interpretation, image annotation and/or calculation/s.

The examination will be held during the official UniSA SP2 examination weeks. The examination date and further guidance will be provided closer to the examination week.

In addition, it is assumed that concepts from all previous courses have been integrated into the student's knowledge-base, and therefore may be assessed as relevant, in this and subsequent courses.
The written examination is worth 60% of your final mark.

The feedback proforma is available on your course site.

General Assessment Information

Within submitted work you must not mention patient names, clinical sites, peers or other clinician by name or in a manner that may lead to them being identified. This also applies to your appendices. Failure to comply with this will result in a fail grade for the assessment as a minimum penalty.

Assignment Layout

If a word count is identified the word count will include all in-text referencing, but not the reference lists. Appendices are not included in the word count. There is no 10% rule. Students will be penalised by staff not marking the “additional” words.

Assessment Extensions

Extensions may be granted for a negotiable number of days at the discretion of the course coordinator.

When requesting an extension, written evidence should be provided for medical or compassionate grounds through the LearnOnline site. The approved extension form and supporting documentation must be attached to the assignment when submitting on the agreed extended date.

Practical Competency Assessment

Please note that the Practical Competency Assessment has compulsory sections that must be passed in order to pass the assessment.

If a fail has been given in the section of Safe Practice or Professional Conduct, the whole assessment will receive a fail grade.

Please familiarise yourself with requirements for these areas, as they will also be of importance as you continue through your studies and clinical courses.

There are no additional assessment requirements identified for this course.

Late submission of assessment tasks policy
Late submission of assessment tasks in this course will result in a penalty unless an extension has been granted or the student can provide evidence of unexpected or exceptional circumstances.

The penalty for late submissions will be:

1) A deduction of 10% of the available marks, for each day (or part thereof) that the assignment is late up to a maximum of 5 days.

Thus, for an assessment item that is one day late the maximum mark available will be 90%, and for two days late 80% etc. By way of example, if a student achieved a mark of 65% for an assignment that was submitted one day late, their adjusted mark would be 65% of a total available mark of 90%, so the mark would be adjusted to 58.5%.

2) Assignments which are more than 5 days late may not be assessed and will be assigned a zero grade inclusive of non-graded pass work. Whether or not an assignment that is more than 5 days late will be assessed will be at the discretion of the Course Coordinator.

Rationale for Late submission of assessment tasks policy
If unexpected or exceptional circumstances occur that result in late submission, or if an extension has been granted for an assessment item, there will be no penalty.

However, where no extension has been granted, and there were no unexpected or exceptional circumstances that resulted in late submission a penalty will be applied. This is to prevent students from seeking to obtain an unfair advantage, compared with their peers, by having more time to complete an assessment item.

It was considered that if a student were to work on an assessment item for one day they might be able to improve their mark by 10%, so a 10% penalty has been applied to offset any such advantage that might be gained.

The 10% deduction will be from the available mark rather than the achieved mark to ensure equity between students. By way of example:

1) If a student achieved a mark of 77 (Distinction), but the assessment item was submitted two days late, their grade becomes 77% of 80 = 61.6 which is a true 20% reduction.
If the 20% deduction were applied to the achieved mark this would be 77% - 20% = 57%, which would actually represent a 26% reduction of their achieved grade.

2) If a student achieves a mark of 54 (P2) and is 2 days late in submitting the assessment item, their grade becomes 54% of 80 = 43.2 which is a true 20% reduction. If the 20% deduction were applied to the achieved mark this would be 54% - 20% = 34% which represents an actual 37% reduction of their achieved grade.
Thus, if the deduction were applied to the achieved mark both students would experience a different real deduction depending on the actual mark they achieved. Thus, in the interest of student equity the deduction will be taken from the available mark.

This course includes an online exam as part of the assessment. You will receive advanced notice of the scheduled online exam. All exams will be scheduled in South Australian time. You are required to sit your examination online at the scheduled South Australian date and time irrespective of any conflict with planned holiday or special event or regular work commitment, including students sitting in other time zones in Australia or internationally. More detail is available in the Assessment Policy and Procedure manual (Examination Procedures, section A3) at http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/

Deferred assessment or examination is available for the course.

Supplementary assessment or examination offers students an opportunity to gain a supplementary pass (SP) and is available to all students under specific conditions unless supplementary assessment or examination has not been approved for the course.

Specific conditions and further information is available in the Variations to Assessment Procedure. http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/

Supplementary assessment may be granted in special circumstances for this course.

Special consideration is available for this course. Note: Special consideration cannot be granted for a deferred assessment or examination, or a supplementary assessment or examination. APPM 7.7.6

Details for which variation may be considered are discussed in the Variations to Assessment Procedure (http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/). Variation to assessment in unexpected or exceptional circumstances should be discussed with your course coordinator as soon as possible.

More information about variation to assessment is available in the Variations to Assessment Procedure (http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/).

 

Students with disabilities or medical conditions please refer to Students with disabilities or medical conditions.

Students with disabilities or medical conditions or students who are carers of a person with a disability may be entitled to a variation or modification to standard assessment arrangements. See the Variations to Assessment Procedure at: http://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/codes/assessment-policies/ and Policy C7 Students with Disability at: https://i.unisa.edu.au/policies-and-procedures/university-policies/corporate/c-7/

Students who require variations or modifications to standard assessment arrangements must first register for an Access Plan with the UniSA Access & Inclusion Service. It is important to contact the Access & Inclusion service early to ensure that appropriate support can be implemented or arranged in a timely manner. 

Students who wish to apply for an Access Plan must book an appointment with a UniSA Access & Inclusion Advisor by contacting Campus Central or via the Online Booking System in the Student Portal. For more information about Access Plans please visit: https://i.unisa.edu.au/students/student-support-services/access-inclusion/

Once an Access Plan has been approved, students must advise their Course Coordinator as early as possible to ensure that appropriate supports can be implemented or arranged in a timely manner.

Students are advised there are also strict deadlines to finalise Access Plan arrangements prior to examinations. Further information is available at:  http://i.unisa.edu.au/campus-central/Exams_R/Before-the-Exam/Alternative-exam-arrangements/

• Update of both content and formatting aspects of lecture material and practicals to enhance clinical relevance
• Inclusion of more textbook and workbook resources to assist learning
• Inclusion of video tutorials for both physical and virtual radiographic positioning
• Refining of the online examination and offer of further revision resources to assist student preparation

The quality of your learning experiences within this course is important to staff.  Student evaluation of the course is used to help implement changes and improvements. At the end of the course you will be invited to complete an electronic evaluation (myCourseExperience). You will receive an email notifying you of the opening and closing dates of evaluation.

Your constructive feedback is greatly appreciated.

The information below show the suggested alterations/considerations for assessment items and exam dependent on the duration of the unplanned  outage

 

less than 1 hour outage. No impact on either assessment or examination

 

1 to 4 hour outage.     Assessment  - Consider an extension. Examination - No impact.

 

4 to 24 hour outage.     Assessment - 24 hour extension. Examination - Be mindful of outage when marking

 

Over 24 hour outage.   Assessment - 48 hour extension. Examination- Be mindful of outage when marking