EXSC635 - Clinical Assessment and Exercise for Cardiopulmonary Conditions

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

Cardiopulmonary conditions represent the most prevalent conditions encountered by accredited exercise physiologists. Within their scope of practice, accredited exercise physiologists must be able to design and prescribe safe, evidence-based exercise interventions for individuals with or at risk of cardiopulmonary disorders. This unit presents current medical and scientific knowledge of cardiopulmonary disorders and diseases. An examination of the aetiology, incidence, epidemiology and pathophysiology of the disease process, as well as the adaptations that lead to management of the disease, are a major focus of the unit. Current evidence and guidelines for exercise testing and exercise prescription as related to cardiopulmonary disorders will be discussed in detail. Methodological aspects of clinical assessment will be discussed and applied together with the principles of available exercise prescriptions and other conventional treatment therapies. The aim of this unit is to develop knowledge and skills in students to become proficient in the prescription of exercise as a prevention and management strategy for a range of cardiopulmonary conditions.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Content

Topics will include: 

• Anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular, pulmonary and respiratory systems as well as the aetiology, incidence, epidemiology and pathophysiology of these systems.
• Common pathologies of the cardiovascular, pulmonary and respiratory systems.
• Diagnostic tests for cardiopulmonary and respiratory pathology and the interpretation of these including exercise testing, ECGs (normal and abnormal patterns), spirometric and ventilatory variables (at rest and during exercise), and other related pathology tests.
• Exercise interventions for managing cardiopulmonary and respiratory conditions.
• Assessment tools and medical equipment used to evaluate cardiopulmonary and respiratory function.
• Prescription of an exercise-based rehabilitation program for an individual with a related pathology or co-morbidity.
• Current rehabilitation using evidence-based medicine.
• Special considerations and contraindications in the physical assessment and exercise prescription of an individual with a cardiovascular, pulmonary or respiratory pathology.
• Monitoring of a client’s signs and symptoms prior to, during and after exercise.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit is offered through multi-mode delivery and aims to facilitate learner centred activities and inquiry-based learning. Learning and teaching strategies within this Masters level unit are based on a blend of constructivism, social constructivism, and experiential learning. These strategies focus on active participation and developing a community of inquiry. Purposefully designed content and activities have been identified. This has led to the development of purposefully designed learning activities focusing on inquiry-based learning principles aimed at encouraging critical thinking, clinical decision-making, application of knowledge and skills, evidence for practice, collaborative peer learning, and critical self-reflection.

Students participate in individual and small group activities based on analysis of current practice, to assimilate application of acquired knowledge and facilitate translation of learning into practice. Engagement in extended dialogue is encouraged to guide change to a more interprofessional, person-centred practice. Unit activities include, but are not limited to: guided readings, synchronous on-line tutorials, web-based activities and practical workshops, which include skill development, case-study simulations, work-based activities with reflection to enhance practice. To facilitate practical application of knowledge and skills, multi-mode delivery requires participation in weekly practical workshops. Where possible, workshop activities are designed as reusable learning objects. Activities are aimed to facilitate acquisition of advanced knowledge and skills in assessment and exercise intervention planning strategies.

Assessment strategy and rationale

Assessment tasks in this unit have been purposefully designed to prepare for and replicate authentic clinical practice, with an “assessment for learning” approach to provide evidence for judgement of learning and to reinforce, facilitate and support learning and its application. The assessment tasks have been designed to provide a broad range of tasks aligned to andragogic principles of adult learning, facilitating choice and self-direction for the post graduate student. The design enables timely judgement to ensure students have appropriate knowledge and skills prior to workplace application.

 The first assessment task (Theory Examination) enables students to acquire advanced knowledge and understanding of content delivered throughout the unit. The second assessment (Audiovisual presentation) task enables students to assimilate this knowledge and develop clinical reasoning to interpret the findings of a clinical assessment and prescribe an exercise rehabilitation intervention, which is informed by holistic clinical management, evidence-based practice and based on individual needs and goals of a case study. The final assessment task enables students to develop the ability to apply critical thinking and clinical reasoning to selectively perform and justify the use of appropriate clinical assessments, which will then inform prescription, instruction and delivery of an exercise rehabilitation intervention for a case study with a cardiopulmonary condition. This assessment tasks also enables students to apply knowledge and skills specific to evaluation and monitoring of the case study’s response to exercise and apply clinical decision making to modify the intervention where necessary. The final assessment task (Practical Examination) is also a hurdle requiring students to demonstrate, at a minimum, the essential clinical competencies needed to safely and effectively service a client with a cardiopulmonary condition. Demonstration of these essential clinical competencies is necessary for safe and effective professional practice as an exercise physiologist. Students will be given two opportunities to successful complete this assessment with space for provision of individual feedback between opportunities if required.

To pass this unit and meet the learning outcomes students must achieve both a pass in the ungraded hurdle, and an aggregate score of ≥50%.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (2020). Guidelines for Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs (6th ed.). Human Kinetics.

American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (2019). Guidelines for Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programs (5th ed.). Human Kinetics.

American College of Sports & Liguiri, G. (2020). ACSM’s guidelines for exercise testing and prescription (11th ed.). Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins. 

Ehrman, J.K., Gordon, P.M., Visich, P.S., & Keteyian, S.J. (Eds.) (2023). Clinical Exercise Physiology: exercise management for chronic diseases and special populations (5th ed.). Human Kinetics.