Students

CHIR8505 – Diagnosis and Management 1

2022 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Christopher Agius
christopher.agius@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
(CHIR8512 or CHIR8502 or CHIR874) and (CHIR8102 or CHIR892) and (CHIR8402 or CHIR917) and (CHIR8514 or CHIR8504 or CHIR919)
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

The focus of this unit is to continue to develop students' clinical reasoning skills, by exposing them to a range of clinical scenarios, which may be encountered in chiropractic practice. It aims to act as a 'virtual clinic', exposing students to a standardised range of clinical experiences. Students go over the case studies prior to the tutorials, and discuss them as a student-based group activity in the tutorials, in order to imitate the independence required in clinical practice. The clinical management of the patient includes nutritional, pharmacological and mental health interventions, and thus these studies are included in this unit.

CHIR8505 articulates with CHIR8506 with the two units together covering the full spectrum of clinically relevant conditions for chiropractors.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

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

  • ULO1: Integrate and assess presented data (including history, physical examination, and investigations where appropriate) using problem-solving techniques to successfully diagnose patients presenting for chiropractic care across the lifespan
  • ULO2: Formulate patient-specific management plans under an evidence-based framework, including referral for further investigations or alternative management when appropriate.
  • ULO3: Outline commonly presented mental health conditions and consider how the patient's mental health status can influence their clinical presentation, their therapeutic relationship with the chiropractor, and the clinical outcomes
  • ULO4: Interpret a wide range of diagnostic images and evaluate how imaging findings will affect patient management
  • ULO5: Discuss drug usage relevant to chiropractic practice, including pharacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, and explain the significance of toxicity, adverse reactions and contraindications
  • ULO6: Use current research to critically evaluate present nutritional information, issuesand trends

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Case Study Examination 20% No Week 7
Pharmacology Assessment Task 10% No End of Week 8
Radiology Slide Exam 15% No Week 13, Friday 8am
Online case study quizzes 15% No Weekly
Final Examination 40% No Exam Period

Case Study Examination

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 7
Weighting: 20%

A summative assessment of case study diagnosis and management. Students are provided with history and examination information and asked to present their diagnosis and a management plan.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Integrate and assess presented data (including history, physical examination, and investigations where appropriate) using problem-solving techniques to successfully diagnose patients presenting for chiropractic care across the lifespan
  • Formulate patient-specific management plans under an evidence-based framework, including referral for further investigations or alternative management when appropriate.
  • Outline commonly presented mental health conditions and consider how the patient's mental health status can influence their clinical presentation, their therapeutic relationship with the chiropractor, and the clinical outcomes
  • Interpret a wide range of diagnostic images and evaluate how imaging findings will affect patient management
  • Discuss drug usage relevant to chiropractic practice, including pharacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, and explain the significance of toxicity, adverse reactions and contraindications
  • Use current research to critically evaluate present nutritional information, issuesand trends

Pharmacology Assessment Task

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: End of Week 8
Weighting: 10%

This assessment task is based on a patient profile which contains a list of medications taken by the patient. Based on the information provided students must answer a series of questions assessing their ability to apply their knowledge of pharmacology.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Discuss drug usage relevant to chiropractic practice, including pharacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, and explain the significance of toxicity, adverse reactions and contraindications

Radiology Slide Exam

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 13, Friday 8am
Weighting: 15%

A slide examination related to radiographic and medical imaging, in which students answer questions on slide images in a written examination
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Integrate and assess presented data (including history, physical examination, and investigations where appropriate) using problem-solving techniques to successfully diagnose patients presenting for chiropractic care across the lifespan
  • Formulate patient-specific management plans under an evidence-based framework, including referral for further investigations or alternative management when appropriate.
  • Interpret a wide range of diagnostic images and evaluate how imaging findings will affect patient management

Online case study quizzes

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Weekly
Weighting: 15%

Weekly online quizzes accessible through ilearn. The quizzes will assess theory and radiology related to weekly case studies, and nutrition and mental health questions based on lecture material from the previous week.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Integrate and assess presented data (including history, physical examination, and investigations where appropriate) using problem-solving techniques to successfully diagnose patients presenting for chiropractic care across the lifespan
  • Formulate patient-specific management plans under an evidence-based framework, including referral for further investigations or alternative management when appropriate.
  • Interpret a wide range of diagnostic images and evaluate how imaging findings will affect patient management

Final Examination

Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Exam Period
Weighting: 40%

The final exam covers pharmacology, nutrition and mental health theory.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Outline commonly presented mental health conditions and consider how the patient's mental health status can influence their clinical presentation, their therapeutic relationship with the chiropractor, and the clinical outcomes
  • Discuss drug usage relevant to chiropractic practice, including pharacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, and explain the significance of toxicity, adverse reactions and contraindications
  • Use current research to critically evaluate present nutritional information, issuesand trends

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Unit Web Page

You can log in to iLearn System via the link listed below:

http://learn.mq.edu.au

All lecture materials will be posted on ilearn, and there is also a link to ECHO360 for audio recordings of the lectures plus livestreaming.

There are 3 lectures per week one in each stream. The streams are - Nutrition, Mental Health and Clinical Pharmacology.

All Nutrition lectures will be delivered Pre-recorded in 2021. Mental Health and Clinical Pharmacology will be a mixture of pre-recorded and live online lectures.

Required and Recommended Resources

 

Core:

Beirman R. Cases in Differential Diagnosis for the Physical and Manipulative Therapies. Churchill Livingstone, 2012

Highly recommended:

Souza, T. Differential Diagnosis for the Chiropractor

Yochum, T., & Rowe, L., 20, Essentials of Skeletal Radiology – Vols I & II, (ed.) Lippincott, William & Wilkins, Baltimore.

 

A note about textbooks:

Textbooks for this unit can be purchased online from Booktopia https://www.booktopia.com.au

Link to textbook at booktopia

 

Tutorials:

Case Studies & Evidence Informed Practice

The schedule of weekly tutorials is available on iLearn. It details the case studies that will be covered in the tutorials, the extra reading cases and the online quiz cases for theory and radiology, all laid out week by week. Please consult the schedule at the start of every week and prepare before coming to tutorials and go through the assigned cases before undertaking the weekly online quizzes.  Attendance and participation in tutorials are a hurdle requirement and it is necessary to attend at least 8 of the 10 sessions.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2022.03 of the Handbook