MEDIMAGE 302 Sectional Imaging Anatomy and Pathology - Course Outlines

Course Prescription

Develops understanding of anatomy and pathology as applied in Medical Imaging. Focuses on sectional imaging anatomy, normal variants and common pathologies as demonstrated on CT (computed tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and ultrasound images.

Course Overview

This course aims to provide students with a fundamental knowledge of sectional imaging appearances, as seen on a range of specialised imaging modalities. Students will apply their knowledge of anatomy and pathology to identify and describe basic normal and abnormal imaging appearances, learning appropriate terminology to communicate ndings professionally. Learning activities and assessments are designed to support the development of clinical competency for Medical Imaging students. All other students will gain the same

knowledge with the potential to apply this in their future careers.

The course is delivered at Grafton campus, regularly utilising the Faculty of Medical and Health Science’s Medical Sciences Learning Centre (MSLC) and Human Anatomy Lab (HAL) for practical learning. The course incorporates a range of learning approaches including online videos, webpages, links to the library databases and resources, and online preparatory reading and learning tasks to supplement tutorials and labs. Academic learning is expected to inform clinical practice and enhance levels of clinical competency.

This course is compulsory for the BMedImag(Hons) programme.

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: MEDSCI 201, 203

Course Contacts

Course Director

Dr Sibusiso Mdletshe

Senior Lecturer

Email: sibusiso.mdletshe@auckland.ac.nz

Profile: https://unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz/profile/sibusiso-mdletshe

Course Coordinator

Mr Seb Barfoot

Professional Teaching Fellow

Email: s.barfoot@auckland.ac.nz

Profile: https://unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz/people/s-barfoot

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

Apply knowledge of gross anatomical structures to describe sectional anatomy as seen on multi-planar imaging. (Capability 3, 4 and 6)
Identify and describe normal variants and common pathology as depicted on multi-planar imaging. (Capability 3, 4 and 6)
Communicate anatomical and pathological imaging appearances using appropriate terminology. (Capability 3, 4 and 6)
Synthesise and apply knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pathology and imaging principles to analyse imaging appearances. (Capability 3, 4, 5 and 6)

Assessments

Assessment Type	Percentage	Classification
Quizzes	20%	Individual Coursework
Presentation	30%	Individual Coursework
Final Exam	50%	Individual Examination
3 types	100%

Assessment Type	Learning Outcome Addressed
	1	2	3	4
Quizzes
Presentation
Final Exam

This course is 100% internally assessed. An aggregated mark of 50% or more is required to successfully pass this course. Resubmission of failed assessments is not permitted. In addition to achieving an overall pass mark, it is a requirement to attempt and submit all the assessments related to this course (as above).

Penalties for excessive word count and/or late submission (without prior written approval for an extension) will be applied in accordance with the 'Medical Imaging Assessment Requirements and Presentation Criteria' document.

Guidelines on the use of Gen-AI software to complete assessments in this course will be provided for each assessment.

The course Canvas page has more detailed information on assessment processes and requirements.

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 30 hours of tutorial and/or labs, 20 hours of directed readings, videos and thinking about the content and 70 hours of work on assignments, self-directed learning and/or test preparation.

As a signicant component of pre-clinical preparation and to facilitate clinical competency, attendance at all labs is mandatory. Assessments will be based on the learning and activities performed at these labs. Attendance records will be taken at each lab and students will be required to meet with the Course Coordinator to explain any absences. Failure to attend the laboratory sessions without valid reasons more than twice will automatically trigger the Medical Imaging Discipline’s ‘non-critical fitness to practice’ internal process.

Delivery Mode

Campus Experience

Attendance is required at scheduled activities including labs/tutorials and lectures to complete components of the course.

Learning activities including tutorials/labs will not be available as recordings.

The course may include live online events including in the form of optional revision tutorials held weekly

Attendance on campus or online delivery for the exam will be subject to university guidelines.

The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Students will be able to access a large selection of online resources via the Philson Library databases.

Students will be provided with access to course materials from MEDIMAGE 201 and 203 from the beginning of the course. These are considered pre-requisite knowledge for this course and include worksheets and digital radiology presentations

An introductory H5P tutorial will be made available through Canvas from the beginning of the course to provide students the fundamental concepts and technical aspects of cross-sectional imaging modalities that they will need to understand and apply throughout the course

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student feedback is very important to the continuous development of this course and has driven many of the positive changes we have been able to make in our course offerings.

Students in previous years have regularly commented that it was sometimes hard to learn cross-sectional anatomy within the time given for the lab sessions. Unfortunately, this is a skill that requires practice and revision and this course is set up to provide plenty of time for self-directed learning of the content prior to the final exam. Students are expected to come prepared to class, having watched the suggested pre-lab videos or H5P tutorials, having revised the pre-requisite worksheets from MEDIMAGE 201 and 203 and, optionally, having attempted the worksheet for the lab at hand. Lab sessions are made more meaningful when this is the case as the student comes prepared with a base knowledge upon which we can build understanding and nuance. Staff are available to answer questions throughout the duration of the course via Piazza and a range of resources are suggested to students to help them practice interpreting cross-sectional imagery in their own time after the formal teaching sessions. Examinations require the application of knowledge and theory to novel situations. To address the difficulty of learning within the time constraints of formal sessions, additional weekly revision sessions are held online where students can raise specific questions or have their personal image annotations checked and evaluated. For 2025, the addition of official annotated image sets will be released to the class once after the submission of the oral presentation assignment. The decision to delay release of this new resource has been made to emphasise that students should be attempting to undertake this activity themselves first, seeking feedback if necessary, as this will more significantly benefit their learning and understanding of the content.

In HAL teaching sessions, students are expected to work in small groups using iPads to explore prescribed image sets. Due to increasing cohort size, in 2024 the number of iPads available was identified by students as insufficient to their ability to work effectively in class. We recognise that maintaining optimal group size per iPad is an important factor to the efficacy of learning in these labs and have consequently purchased additional devices for 2025 to improve the in-class experience.

Additionally, Pathology tutorials held in the MSLC were identified as being sub-optimal due to the lack of desks on which to place devices for note taking. The MSLC was originally chosen for these tutorials as it houses the university's pathology collection and is an inspiring space to learn in but we recognise that it is no as fit for purpose. Although some sessions will still take place in the MSLC due to timetabling restrictions in 2025, most have now been relocated to more appropriate classroom spaces.

In previous years, some students felt that the course started very quickly, with students expected to be able to read and interpret cross-sectional imaging in the very first lab session for which they had not actually received any formal training. To combat this, we created an interactive H5P tutorial to introduce the fundamental concepts of cross-sectional imaging modalities as well as some more technical specifics relating to the two main modalities that students will encounter within the course (CT and MRI). This was released two weeks ahead of the first HAL lab for students to complete in 2024. Consequently, students were much more confident and capable in 2024 engaging with class activities compared to previous years. The resource remained active for the duration of the course for students to refer to and revise from as necessary to maintain fundamental concepts from which the course content builds.

Other Information

Communication

All ocial communication to a student will be sent to the student’s current University email address (username@aucklanduni.ac.nz) and the student is responsible for ensuring that any desired forwarding to other addresses is in place and operating correctly. Sta will not be responsible for any consequences if students fail to read and respond to University correspondence in a timely manner.

Students are encouraged to use the course ‘Discussion’ forum on Canvas as much as possible for communication with sta and other students. Email may be used for more private matters. Email communication to University staff and supervisors must be sent from the student’s University email address. As a general rule, students are advised to log-on at least twice a week. Logging on regularly allows regular checking of 'Announcements' as well as reading and engaging on relevant communication.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework, tests and examinations as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against electronic source material using computerised detection mechanisms. Upon reasonable request, students may be required to provide an electronic version of their work for computerised review.

The way to avoid plagiarism is to reference your work. Please refer to the following website for further information about academic referencing: www.cite.auckland.ac.nz/

The document ‘Guidelines: Conduct of Coursework’ provides further advice on how to avoid plagiarism. It can be found in the ‘Medical Imaging Programme Information’ on Canvas.

The penalties for plagiarism can be severe, including losing some or all of the marks for the assignment. Major offences can be sent to the University’s Discipline Committee, where further penalties can be imposed.

Class Representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and your assessment is fair, and not compromised. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the University Website for information about how to proceed.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.

Fitness to practise (FTP)

As health professional students, in addition to meeting the University of Auckland graduate prole capabilities, students in the Medical Imaging postgraduate programmes are required to demonstrate their tness to practise. This applies to students at all times, whether they are on campus, on placement or elsewhere.

Fitness to practise (FTP) is concerned primarily with patient and public safety. It also is concerned with upholding professional standards, including the relevant professional code of conduct, and contributing to the maintenance of the reputation of the profession and public confidence in the profession.

For further information visit FMHS Fitness to Practise Policy (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/theuniversity/how-university-works/policy-and-administration/teaching-and-learning/fmhs-code-of-fitness-topractise/fmhs-fitness-to-practise-policy.html)

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Capability 3:	Knowledge and Practice
Capability 4:	Critical Thinking
Capability 5:	Solution Seeking
Capability 6:	Communication

MEDIMAGE 302 : Sectional Imaging Anatomy and Pathology

Medical and Health Sciences

2025 Semester One (1253) (15 POINTS)