Aquifer

What Aquifer does

Aquifer is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, founded in 2006 and headquartered in Hanover, New Hampshire, that provides a virtual teaching and learning platform for healthcare education in the United States. Its core product is the Aqueduct learning management system, which delivers more than 250 peer-reviewed, award-winning virtual patient cases across the major clinical disciplines (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, OBGYN, Psychiatry, Neurology, Radiology, Geriatrics, Palliative Care, and Integrated Illness Scripts), supplemented by formative assessment tools (Calibrate, PracticeSmart), the Internal Medicine Clinical Decision-Making Exam, specialty modules (Social Determinants of Health, Diagnostic Excellence, Trauma-Informed Care, CARE, Osteopathic Active Learning Modules), and Aquifer Sciences basic-science curriculum. Content is built and continuously updated by the national Aquifer Educators Consortium of clinical educators and is aligned with LCME, COCA, and ARC-PA accreditation standards; Aquifer reports serving 96% of US allopathic medical schools, 66% of osteopathic schools, and 100+ NP, PA, and residency programs, with 125k active students and 15 million virtual cases completed at a 4.5/5 student rating.

The business model is subscription-based and mission-driven rather than venture-backed. Healthcare education institutions subscribe annually (July through June, with automatic renewal) at non-negotiable, enrollment-tiered pricing managed by Relationship Managers; individual subscriptions are also available for self-directed learners. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales complemented by a community-led motion through the Educators Consortium, Peer Trainers, Curricular Consults, national conference presence (IAMSE, COMSEP, STFM, APGO, ADMSEP, ARC-PA), webinars, podcasts, and free resources. Aquifer holds SOC 2 Type 2, WCAG 2.2, FERPA, GDPR, and COPPA compliance certifications, and runs on third-party cloud infrastructure (Heroku/Salesforce, AWS) with SSO via Google and Microsoft. A 2026 product transition will end the long-standing NYU Langone WISE partnership and retire the Hazelden Betty Ford CARE course effective July 1, 2026, while Aquifer AI has been introduced as a generative-AI learning enhancement feature.

Name

Aquifer

Legal name

Aquifer, Inc.

Website

https://aquifer.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Aquifer is a US nonprofit healthcare-education platform delivering 250+ peer-reviewed virtual patient cases and formative assessments through its Aqueduct LMS to medical, osteopathic, PA, NP, and residency programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Education Software

NAICS

Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories (6215), Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691)

SIC

Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro primary industry

Student Response Systems (Clickers & Device-Based Response) (EDAFAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Test Item Banks, Question Authoring & Assessment Design Tools (EDAFADAC)

Keywords

• Virtual patient simulation
• Medical education platform
• Clinical learning software
• Healthcare e-learning
• Formative assessment tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Hanover

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Institutional Subscriptions: Annual subscription-based revenue model where healthcare education programs subscribe to access the Aquifer Suite. Subscriptions are based on total program enrollment across all students in an accredited program. The subscription year runs July 1 through June 30, with automatic annual renewal unless cancelled 30 days prior.
2. Individual Subscriptions: Individual subscribers can purchase access to the Aqueduct Site and Accessible Content for personal, educational, clinical, or research use during their subscription period.
3. Curricular Partner Program: Discount program offering reduced pricing for access to the entire content library, encouraging broader adoption within institutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Aquifer provides AI-enhanced virtual patient case simulations and a clinical learning platform (Aqueduct) used by healthcare education institutions to teach clinical reasoning, foundational knowledge, and formative assessment to medical, PA, NP, and resident students. The company delivers 250+ peer-reviewed virtual patient cases across core clinical disciplines, supported by formative assessment tools (Calibrate, PracticeSmart), Integrated Illness Scripts, and Aquifer AI learning enhancements, all accessible via web and mobile apps.

Product overview

Aquifer is a nonprofit virtual teaching and learning platform for healthcare education offering a suite of products centered on its AI-enhanced Aqueduct learning platform. The core product is Aquifer Virtual Patient Cases (250+ cases across Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, OBGYN, Psychiatry, Neurology, Radiology, Geriatrics, and other disciplines). Key supporting modules include Calibrate and PracticeSmart for formative assessment, the Internal Medicine Clinical Decision-Making Exam for summative assessment, and Aquifer Sciences for basic sciences curriculum. The platform includes specialized courses such as Social Determinants of Health, Diagnostic Excellence, Trauma-Informed Care, and CARE (Course on Addiction and Recovery Education). Educator resources include Integrated Illness Scripts, Osteopathic Active Learning Modules, the Aquifer Educator Connection Podcast, and Curricular Consults. Aquifer also offers Aquifer AI for AI-powered learning support. Previously offered WISE-Surgery and WISE-OnCall are transitioning to NYU Langone in 2026, and the CARE course is being retired. The platform serves 150+ US allopathic medical schools, 20 osteopathic schools, and 100+ NP, PA, and Residency programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Aqueduct: The AI-enhanced learning management system platform used to deliver Aquifer's virtual patient cases and educational content.
• Calibrate
• PracticeSmart

Products and services

• Aquifer Virtual Patient Cases Award-winning virtual patient case simulations across multiple clinical disciplines designed to teach clinical reasoning and foundational knowledge to healthcare students. Each case includes clinical reasoning exercises, summary statements, and formative assessment components. Used by US allopathic, osteopathic, PA, NP, and residency programs.
• Aqueduct Learning Management System AI-enhanced cloud-based learning management system that delivers virtual patient cases, course content, assessments, and student progress tracking for healthcare education. Accessible via web browser and iOS/Android mobile applications with content available online and offline. Includes integrated analytics, role-based access for students/educators/administrators, and AI-powered learning support.
• Calibrate Formative Assessment Formative assessment system for clinical learning that provides detailed feedback to students and enables self-directed learning with targeted study planning. Includes cohort performance analytics for faculty to identify struggling students early.
• Aquifer Sciences Curriculum Nationally-developed and publicly available curriculum outlining core basic sciences concepts for health professions learners. Provided as a free resource to build brand awareness and establish thought leadership in healthcare education.
• Aquifer AI AI-powered learning enhancement features integrated into the Aqueduct platform for personalized learning support and generative AI capabilities.
• PracticeSmart Assessment tool used for formative assessment within the Aquifer platform to support clinical learning and student evaluation.
• Internal Medicine Clinical Decision-Making Exam Summative assessment tool that evaluates students' abilities to apply knowledge and make clinical decisions for quality patient care within the Internal Medicine discipline.
• Social Determinants of Health Course Course covering core principles of social determinants of health, including teaching on cultural competence and application cases on poverty and language as social determinants.
• Aquifer Diagnostic Excellence Cases Cases including teaching on cognitive bias with supporting active learning sessions to enhance diagnostic reasoning skills in healthcare learners.
• Aquifer Trauma-Informed Care Cases addressing core competencies including prevalence and health effects of trauma, principles of trauma-informed care, neurobiology of trauma, and clinical management.
• Curricular Consults One-on-one virtual consultation sessions with experienced health professions educators (Peer Trainers) to help institutions integrate Aquifer resources into their curricula and maximize adoption.

Quantifiable outcome

• 96% of US allopathic medical schools served
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• NYU Langone Health (WISE Program)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWISE (Web-based Instruction for Surgical Education) modules including WISE Surgery and WISE OnCall were distributed through the Aquifer platform. Students had access to WISE-Surgery and WISE-OnCall with progress maintained through the transition. Beginning July 1, 2026, WISE modules will be managed directly by NYU Langone through a separate platform.
• Hazelden Betty Ford FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Course on Addiction and Recovery Education (CARE) was distributed by Aquifer on behalf of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. CARE prepares students to identify, intervene, and address substance use disorders. The CARE course will be retired effective July 1, 2026.
• Aquifer Educators ConsortiumcoreOthersNational Consortium of leading clinical educators who create, build, and maintain Aquifer course content. Supported by Aquifer staff and academic contributors, Consortium members develop and continuously update cases case-by-case.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• AMBOSS: AMBOSS provides a clinical knowledge and decision-support platform widely used by US medical students and institutions. It overlaps directly with Aquifer's clinical reasoning, board-prep, and institutional subscription model.
• Osmosis (Elsevier): Osmosis offers video-based medical education plus question banks to health-professions students and schools. It competes with Aquifer for institutional medical-education budgets and student mindshare in foundational and clinical learning.
• Lecturio: Lecturio delivers video lectures, question banks, and clinical case content to medical and allied-health students globally. It is comparable to Aquifer in targeting institutional curriculum and individual board-prep learners.
• UWorld: UWorld's medical division provides high-quality Qbanks and case-based explanations used by students for board prep. It overlaps with Aquifer on clinical reasoning practice and individual/institutional adoption among health-professions students.
• DxR Clinician: DxR Clinician builds virtual patient simulations for clinical reasoning and assessment in medical schools. It is one of the closest direct competitors to Aquifer's virtual-patient-case product.

Broad incumbents

• Kaplan Medical: Kaplan Medical offers test preparation, Qbanks, and live courses for USMLE and allied health exams. It competes with Aquifer for individual student spend and indirectly for institutional partnerships.
• Wolters Kluwer Health: Wolters Kluwer publishes Lippincott medical education content, point-of-care tools, and learning platforms. It overlaps with Aquifer on institutional medical education content and competes for the same medical-school curriculum budgets.
• Elsevier (Clinical Solutions): Elsevier's Clinical Solutions group (including ClinicalKey and Osmosis) provides institutional medical education, decision support, and content. It is a broad incumbent competitor to Aquifer for medical-school and health-professions contracts.
• Laerdal Medical: Laerdal Medical is a leading provider of physical and digital simulation solutions for healthcare education. It competes with Aquifer in clinical simulation, particularly where schools blend virtual cases with manikin-based simulation.

Others

• National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME): NBME develops assessment items and exams (USMLE, subject exams) used across US medical schools. It is thematically adjacent to Aquifer — both support clinical reasoning assessment — but functions as a standards-setter and assessment partner rather than a direct LMS competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AquiferOrg
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Aquifer
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aquifer-org

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aquifer