Aquifer Radiology

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The 19 interactive virtual patient cases in Aquifer Radiology deliver on the learning objectives of the Association of University Radiologists (AUR) and the Alliance of Medical Student Educators in Radiology (AMSER) medical student curriculum.

Overview

Aquifer Radiology’s virtual patient program provides realistic case scenarios that demonstrate best-practices—helping students develop clinical reasoning skills that bridge the gap from content to practice. In an era of the increasing importance of evidence-based decision making and reliance on imaging, an understanding of the principles and applications of radiology is vital for today’s healthcare professionals. The National Board of Medical Examiners has recognized this by increasing the imaging component of all United States Medical Licensing Examination exams.

Key Features

  • Created for educators, by educators, utilizing the American College of Radiology (ACR) Appropriateness criteria
  • Available for institutional subscription or for direct purchase by individual subscribers
  • Validated 100-question online summative exam available at no additional cost through the 2019-20 subscription year and innovative new formative assessments in development
  • Proven pedagogy that standardizes experiences—overcoming geography, seasonality, and accessibility
  • Evidence-based, peer-reviewed, and continuously updated content
  • Self-assessment questions emphasize key content and enable students to test their knowledge and skills
  • A wealth of source material, tools, and full references in each case
  • Educator resources, including complete flipped classroom PowerPoint workshops for each case—with speaker notes
  • Delivered via the Aqueduct learning management system, which includes user management options, easy reporting on student progress and course usage, plus tools for creating custom courses to match a specific curriculum

Course Content

Aquifer Radiology cases teach a patient-centered approach to imaging, foster self-directed and independent study, and build clinical problem-solving skills. The realistic case scenarios teach evidence-based decision making and include excellent interactive radiology resources.

Curriculum Integration

These cases can be used as a stand-alone radiology course during a radiology clerkship or elective, or be incorporated into the appropriate clinical clerkships as part of a custom course created in Aqueduct.  For example, the women’s imaging cases can be incorporated into an Ob-Gyn clerkship, or the neuroimaging cases could be used during a Neurology clerkship, thus teaching imaging at an applicable time.

Exam

We are excited to share that innovative new formative assessments are now in development for Aquifer Radiology. The new assessments will combine the concepts of test-enhanced learning and distributed practice to facilitate efficient study planning and self-directed learning for students, and identify at-risk students and curricular gaps for faculty. For more information, please read our Formative Assessment Update.

Our current 100-question summative multiple-choice exam will continue to be available through June 2022. 

Aquifer’s online, validated, summative exam includes 100 multiple choice questions that include of a subset of the AMSER Standardized Exam, created by Association of University Radiologists leaders.

The exam is delivered in a secure browser and accompanied by student assessment reports with individual, class, and benchmark data. It can be used to replace or enhance an existing comprehensive assessment or to remediate students.

Case List

Radiology 01: 23-year-old male: Chest – Infection

Radiology 02: 51-year-old male: Chest – Masses

Radiology 03: 65-year-old male: Chest – Trauma

Radiology 04: 65-year-old female: Chest – Vascular and COPD

Radiology 05: 25-year-old male: GI – Colon and small bowel

Radiology 06: 42-year-old female: GI – Hepatobiliary and pancreas

Radiology 07: 40-year-old female: Renal/GU

Radiology 08: 18-year-old female & 19-year-old male: GI – Trauma

Radiology 09: 34-year-old male: Neuro – Trauma

Radiology 10: 40-year-old male: Neuro – Vascular and HIV

Radiology 11: 8-week old male – Pediatrics A

Radiology 12: 2-month old female – Pediatrics B

Radiology 13: 59-year-old female: MSK – Arthritis, osteomyelitis

Radiology 14: 28-year-old female: Women’s imaging – Pregnancy and infertility

Radiology 15: 43-year-old female: Women’s imaging – Malignancy and screening

Radiology 16: 24-year-old male: MSK – Trauma

Radiology 17: 65-year-old male: Cardiac and Cardiovascular

Radiology 18: Professionalism in Radiology

Radiology 19: 53-year-old female: Oncology

Course Board

Senior Director (former): Michelle McNamara, MD (University of Alabama Birmingham)

Editor-in-Chief: Carl Fuhrman, MD (University of Pittsburgh)

Teaching and Learning Lead: Judy Gadde, DO, MBA (Emory University)

Assessment Lead: Jeffery Hogg, MD (West Virginia University)

Associate Editors:

  • Pauline Germaine, DO (Rowan University)
  • Jennifer Koay White, MD (West Virginia University)
  • Melissa Manzer, MD (University of Nebraska)

Educator Resources

In addition to the 19 cases included with this course, the Aquifer Educators Consortium has developed Educator Resources to accompany this course, available to all subscribers. Resources include valuable teaching and learning tools to increase student engagement and maximize efficiency for faculty.

To access these tools, sign in to your Aquifer account and visit the Educator Resources section.

Flipped Classroom Workshops

Learn more about our Flipped Classroom Workshops, available for 18 cases and included with your subscription:

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Aquifer Radiology Educator Guide

New Educator Guide Available

Course Overview – Integration Strategies – Case Details – Features & Resources

The Educator Guide—available to all subscribers—provides a quick reference guide for all cases, resources, and features included with Aquifer Radiology.

The Educator Guide is ideal for educators who are getting started using Aquifer, or experienced users who want to be sure they are taking advantage of Aquifer’s extensive resources and tools. Learn more…

User Stories

Learn how Aquifer Radiology can benefit medical students, residents, and faculty in your program:

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Testimonials

“I use Aquifer Radiology as an elective for fourth-year medical students, assigning most of the modules to the students every month—and for the R1 as a "bootcamp" for their first two weeks. I like that I can track not only the student’s progress but also see when and how they are using the cases. I also enjoy making use of Aquifer’s flipped classroom workshops, slightly modified for my program, to teach students in class.”

Sravanthi Reddy, MD Professor, Clinical Radiology, Keck School of Medicine of USC

“The Aquifer Radiology modules provided an excellent overview of many of the basic radiology principles and cases. They were succinct and included many links to additional learning material. The overall time to complete each module was reasonable and the questions were representative of the key points of each case. Learning via Aquifer Radiology modules was helpful for me because it put facts into clinical scenarios and gave thorough feedback when testing comprehension.”

Fourth-Year Medical Student