Clinical Excellence Case Set
Aquifer Diagnostic Excellence
The introductory principles module and six virtual patient cases in Aquifer Diagnostic Excellence introduce students to the cognitive processes and system-related issues that can lead to errors.
Diagnostic accuracy is the foundation of safe, effective medicine—yet 15% of inpatient cases involve some degree of diagnostic error. Aquifer Diagnostic Excellence introduces students to the cognitive processes and system-related issues that can lead to errors.
Aquifer Diagnostic Excellence is part of Aquifer’s Clinical Excellence Case Set, which includes 52 cases covering Palliative Care, Trauma Informed Care, Diagnostic Excellence, High Value Care, Social Determinants of Health, and Telemedicine.
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"Medical error is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., causing at least 250,000 deaths every year. Diagnostic error represents anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 of those deaths, making it the sixth leading cause of death."
Just in Time Coverage of Diagnostic Excellence Embedded in Select Courses
In addition to the stand-alone cases on Diagnostic Excellence included as part of this Clinical Excellence Case Set, select core cases in Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Geriatrics, Neurology, and Radiology now have brief teaching on Diagnostic Excellence embedded right into the case in the form of a clinical decision making question.
Together the just-in-time curricular threads combined with the deeper principles and application cases provide a strong foundation in Diagnostic Excellence across the curriculum without adding faculty time.
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Key Features
- Part of Aquifer’s Clinical Excellence Case Set, included with Curricular Partner subscriptions and available by subscription to Limited Subscribers
- Created for educators, by educators, in collaboration with the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine
- Ready-made cases to support self-directed learning, appropriate to supplement pre-clinical or clinical learning
- Cases take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.
- Appropriate to support pre-clinical or clinical learning.
- Can be combined with other cases in a custom course to meet the needs of your specific curriculum.
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Course Content
Cases include foundational content about diagnosis, contributing factors, and strategies to avoid errors. Causes and consequences of diagnostic errors for patients, families, and providers are discussed in detail and students are encouraged to reflect on their own experiences. Aquifer Diagnostic Excellence provides tools to help students mitigate diagnostic error.
This cross-disciplinary course covers a range of topics, including internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, psychiatry, family medicine, and pediatrics.
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Course Structure
All Clinical Excellence Case Sets, including Diagnostic Excellence, now include:
- Principles module: covers key definitions, epidemiology, explanations of key principles and why they are important for patient care, and a harm statement that makes it explicit what harm can come to the patient if the principle is not incorporated into practice.
- Application Cases: Brief, realistic case scenarios that focus on one area of a patient encounter, and are centered around asking students to make important clinical decisions. Content models evidence-based best practices and communication strategies, exploring the real-world impacts on care and potential harm. At the end of each case, a reflection question asks the students to consider key takeaways, implications for their future practice, or personal wellness. Each application case also includes self-assessment questions that extend the learning to other scenarios.
- Principles module: covers key definitions, epidemiology, explanations of key principles and why they are important for patient care, and a harm statement that makes it explicit what harm can come to the patient if the principle is not incorporated into practice.
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Curriculum Integration
Aquifer Diagnostic Excellence is designed for any level student in a medical school or health professions program. The course is an ideal assignment for students to complete as preparation for clinical experiences that include telemedicine. Cases also serve as valuable reference material for students to return to as they need to refresh their knowledge during clinical rotations.
Programs with a current Aquifer subscription will also have faculty and administrator access to an accompanying educator guide. Subscribers will also be able to view student progress reporting and combine the new cases with other Aquifer content in a custom course.
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Case List
Diagnostic Excellence 01: Principles of diagnostic excellence
Diagnostic Excellence 02: 35-year-old with abdominal pain
Diagnostic Excellence 03: 16-year-old with pelvic pain
Diagnostic Excellence 04: 10-year-old with chronic abdominal pain
Diagnostic Excellence 05: 84-year-old with sepsis
Diagnostic Excellence 06: 12-day-old infant with bloody stool
Diagnostic Excellence 07: Two patients with iron-deficiency anemia
Learn More
Learn how Aquifer Diagnostic Excellence can benefit students and faculty in your program:
Andrew Olsen, MD
Assistant Professor,
University of Minnesota
My second-year medical students valued learning about diagnostic errors in an interactive manner and appreciated being able to practice clinical reasoning while learning about patient safety.
In our first year using Aquifer Diagnostic Excellence, we noticed that students started talking about types of errors during their clinical presentations. Clearly, it was sinking in! For me, the most rewarding part was seeing a student take what they learned from the course and create a presentation about a clinical case they observed which had a medical error. The presentation included a discussion about steps to minimize errors in the future, such as better hand-offs, clearer documentation, and avoiding diagnostic momentum.
Aquifer Clinical Excellence Course Board
Heather Harrell, MD, FACP
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Editor in Chief
Institution: University of Florida
Institutional Title: Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean of Medical Education
Lauren Azevedo, DO, MS, FAAP
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: Michigan State University
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Institutional Title: Assistant Dean
Kelsey Dougherty, MMSc, PA-C
Course Board: Aquifer Pediatrics
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: University of Colorado Child Health Associate/Physician Assistant Program (CHAPA)
Institutional Title: Assistant Professor
Patricia Griffith, PhD, CRNP, ACNP-BC
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Institutional Title: Practice Associate Professor, Associate Director AGACNP Program
Jennifer Grumet, MD
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: Chapman University / PA Studies Program
Institutional Title: Clinical Associate Professor, Director of Admissions, Assistant Clinical Coordinator
Nivedita Gunturi, MD
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: Rush University Medical Center
Institutional Title: Assistant Program Director, Assistant Professor
Kathryn Holliday, DNP, CPNP- PC, CNE, CHSE
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: SUNY Upstate Medical University, College of Nursing
Institutional Title: Clinical Assistant Professor
Kate LaPorta, MHS, PA-C
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: University of Colorado CHA/PA Program
Institutional Title: Assistant Professor
Townes R. Leigh, Jr., DO, CAQSM, FAAFP
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Institutional Title: Assistant Professor of Family Medicine/Sports Medicine, Program Director SHREC Sports Medicine Fellowship
Juan Lessing, MD
Current Role: Associate Editor
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Institution: University of Colorado School of Medicine
Institutional Title: Associate Professor, Medicine-Hospital Medicine
J'Aimee Lippert, DO
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Institutional Title: Associate Dean of Admissions and Student Affairs
Jamie Macklin, MD, MPH
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Institutional Title: Associate Medical Director of Medicine
Khiet Ngo, DO, MS
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: University of California Riverside School of Medicine
Institutional Title: Associate Dean for Clinical Skills Education & Innovation
Amit Pahwa, MD
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: John Hopkins University School of Medicine
Institutional Title: Associate Professor of Medicine
Institutional Role: Director, Internal Medicine Sub-Internship
Rex Alvin D. Paulino, MD, AGSF
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: Joan and Stanford Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine
University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston
Institutional Title: Associate Professor
Manajyoti Yadav, MD, FACP, FRCP
Course Board: Aquifer Clinical Excellence
Role: Associate Editor
Institution: University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria
Institutional Title: Clerkship Director