91836 Professional Experience in Medical Science PT A
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particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 12 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 91557 Professional Experience in Medical Science PT A AND 94680 Entering Professional Life (6cp) AND 94681 Entering Professional Life (8cp)
Description
This subject provides students with the opportunity to gain real-world work experience in order to prepare them as employment-ready graduates. The subject provides approved professional experience in a biomedical science service provider laboratory in the private or public sector. It is designed to provide students with appreciation of the technical, organisational, social, cultural, ethical and legislative dimensions of workplace practice in science. The focus is on the attributes required for a successful job application; orientation to workplace practices; self-analysis of current skills, attributes and learning needs; effective written and oral communication skills; application and extension of knowledge; technology proficiency; and early workplace experiences.
The principal aim of the subject is to provide students with experience-based exposure to the industry of medical science, to help students develop as professional scientists. Students learn from their own experiences in a professional setting through reflection on their workplace practices and documentation of their learning. They have the opportunity to devise strategies to fuse their practical experiences with future endeavours, and gain deeper awareness of themselves and their abilities to plan for professional and personal development, providing a competitive advantage for future employment.
The subject may be taken as the first in professional experience or after successful completion of 91552 Professional Experience in Medical Science 1. Specifics of the placement may differ depending on the sequence of subjects. The student may experience an introduction to several specialities in a pathology laboratory, eg microbiology, histology and biochemistry; or the student may focus on one laboratory specialty for the duration of the placement. Students experience the entire business process including work, health and safety; quality assurance and control; sample handling, processing and storage; data reporting; stakeholder interaction; and an overview of technical and experimental procedures.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Identify your skills and attributes, and communicate these effectively to a recruiter (or target employer) in a written job application. |
|---|---|
| 2. | Communicate effectively in both written and oral formats, with consideration of a varied audience. |
| 3. | Behave in a manner suitable to a professional environment. |
| 4. | Apply theoretical and practical disciplinary knowledge and professional skills to a workplace setting. |
| 5. | Reflect upon your professional placement as a developmental experience, identifying what you have learned, and determine how you will fit into your future professional workspace. |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of following course intended learning outcomes:
- Explain how diseases arise and disrupt normal physiological function and appraise the technologies used to diagnose, treat, and cure diseases. (1.1)
- Collect, accurately record, interpret, and draw conclusions from data to solve real-world medical problems, and infer how the results of medical research can be translated to improve patient outcomes. (2.1)
- Evaluate ethical, social, and cultural issues in medical science in local and global contexts and work responsibly, safely and with respect to diversity and regulatory frameworks. (3.1)
- Reflect upon, independently evaluate, and critically appraise current evidence-based literature to identify medical problems or unmet medical needs and creatively translate medical research results to improve the clinical care of patients. (4.1)
- Effectively communicate medical science knowledge and research information, and the importance thereof, to a range of audiences using a variety of modes, independently and collaboratively. (5.1)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
Professional Experience in Medical Science PT A is designed to be taken after Stage 3 in the Medical Science, Biomedical Science or Biotechnology degrees, but can be taken at a later time. This subject builds upon many subjects in earlier stages, such as Human Anatomy and Physiology, General Microbiology and Metabolic Biochemistry, as well as complementing stage 5 and 6 subjects, including Haematology 2, Medical and Diagnostic Biochemistry, and Biochemistry, Genes and Disease. This subject enables students to apply their theoretical knowledge and practical laboratory skills learned in previous subjects in a professional setting.
You will develop:
- Disciplinary knowledge. Through real-world industry experience you will have the opportunity to develop an understanding of the modern diagnostic laboratory, and prepare yourself as an employment-ready graduate.
- Research, inquiry and critical thinking. As you carry out tests and experiments during your day-to-day work experience, you will have the opportunity to develop critical and independent thinking in the analysis of results. You will draw on your in-class knowledge to understand the basis for diagnostic assays, and use an inquiry-based approach for trouble-shooting.
- Professional, ethical and social responsibility. Through working in a pathology laboratory, you will have the opportunity to appreciate and develop the professional, ethical and social responsibilities inherent in the healthcare system.
- Reflection, Innovation, Creativity. You will be encouraged to reflect on your current skills, your learning experiences and the skills developed during your placement.
- Communication. Throughout the subject, you will have the opportunity to develop your communication skills as you interact with co-workers within a professional setting, and prepare assessment tasks for this subject.
Teaching and learning strategies
This Professional Experience subject provides you with the best of an off-campus learning environment with continued access to all the on-campus support structures. You will have the opportunity to learn in a real-world work place. You will work off-campus within a public or privately run (bio)medical laboratory, completing 280 hours of work, which is nominally 40 days of 7 hours work per day. You will have the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills you have learnt in your University study to a real-world environment, and at the same time adapt and develop these existing skills and learn new ones. You are encouraged reflect on your experience, self-assess your current skills and knowledge, and learn from your workplace experiences so as to facilitate development of your self-directed learning skills.
While in the work place you are invited to make contact with other students in the subject, either at the same host organisation or others, and develop a network for collaboration and support.
You are encouraged to use the UTS language support service, HELPS, as well as the UTS Careers Service, during preparation of your assessment tasks. Also, the UTS Library website has information that may be of use to you. Your subject coordinator can help you with resources on working in teams, preparing oral presentations, and time management. Assessment tasks have preparation guidelines, marking criteria and rubrics available on Canvas in order to help you maximise the quality of your work.
A brief report on your perceived progress, achievements, strengths and weaknesses will be requested from your workplace supervisor upon completion of your professional placement. This report may be provided to you as a developmental guide, in agreement with your workplace supervisor.
Content (topics)
As this is a professional experience subject in industry there is no set timetable. Each organisation will have a preferred schedule. Workplace attendance will be determined individually as mutually agreeable between the student, organisation and subject coordinator, nominally between Monday to Friday. There is no after hours or weekend attendance.
As each placement will be different, specific details as to what a student will experience and learn cannot be specified. The complexity of employability is such that a wide range of educational objectives can be constructed to encompass important aspects of employability. Depending on their individual work placements students may not be able to develop evenly across such a broad front, with some aims not fully achievable during a student’s time in the workplace.
However, students will learn in two broad areas from undertaking this subject: (i) professional skills (scientific and generic) and disciplinary knowledge in the area of the specific workplace discipline; (ii) critical analysis, self-assessment and the ability to learn independently.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Self Reflection
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: 3.0 Professional, ethical and social responsibility 4.0 Reflection, Innovation, Creativity |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 4 and 5 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 3.1 and 4.1 |
| Type: | Reflection |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 35% |
| Length: | 700 words +/- 10% (excluding 100 words recommendation). A penalty of 5 marks will be deducted for every 500 words over the word limit. |
| Criteria: | Working as a laboratory scientist requires a range of skills that are both technical and transferable (these are a core set of skills and abilities that are useful throughout your entire career, see UTS Careers Blog to learn more). According to the World Economic Forum, of the top 15 skills for 2025, the top five will be: (1) Analytical thinking and innovation, (2) Active learning and learning strategies, (3) Complex problem-solving, (4) Critical thinking and analysis, and (5) Creativity, originality and initiative (https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2020.pdf). You will have developed many of these at university and on your placement.
Also include a short recommendation (100 words)- would you recommend this placement/laboratory to your peers? Include a discussion of why/why not. |
Assessment task 2: Video Log and peer feedback
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: 4.0 Reflection, Innovation, Creativity 5.0 Communication |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 2, 3 and 5 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 4.1 and 5.1 |
| Type: | Reflection |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 40% |
| Length: | The vlog is a maximum of 7 minutes. 5 marks will be deducted for every minute from 8 minutes onwards. Your peer feedback consists of ratings and maximum 300 words of written feedback. |
| Criteria: | The assignment will be assessed for your ability to communicate effectively and present your professional experience learning opportunity to a varied audience, including a prospective employer. The video log will be marked according to the following criteria:
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Assessment task 3: Supervisor's Report
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: 1.0 Disciplinary knowledge 2.0 Research, Inquiry and Critical Thinking 5.0 Communication |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 2, 3 and 5 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.1, 2.1 and 5.1 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 25% |
| Length: | N/A |
| Criteria: | You will be assessed by your supervisor on:
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Minimum requirements
Students are expected to attend all 40 days (280 hours) of professional experience. If a student is absent from an agreed (timetabled) professional experience day, the workplace supervisor must be advised by the student at the earliest practicable time. A medical certificate must be produced to explain the absence, and given to the subject coordinator. Other reasons will be assessed on merit at the time. Another suitable time must be organised with the host organisation to make up time missed because of illness or misadventure.
In order to pass the subject, students must attain at least 50% of the collective marks.
Recommended texts
As this is a professional experience subject there is no essential text. However, students are encouraged to keep up-to-date with relevant published material, including journal articles, and method reports by suppliers of consumables and reagents.
Recent textbooks relevant to the area of professional experience, for example microbiology or biochemistry, may also be of assistance in this subject.