PretectalStart here
Open the visual brief. Choose one asset and write what the viewer should understand, its visual type, and one interpretation it must not suggest. Attach the reference that supports the intended relationship.
Your finished output: The editable asset and static alternative travel with references, permitted simplifications, reuse permissions, alternative text, and the review record for the final version.
Pause and revise when: A structure or motion has no supporting reference, viewers infer a different mechanism, or the intended reuse is not covered. Return to the brief and resolve that issue before finalizing the asset.
Before you start
Decide what a visual must teach before deciding how to make it. A diagram, a clinical photograph, a data chart, and decorative artwork have different jobs and require different kinds of review.
For: Presenters, designers, illustrators, and clinical reviewers.
The deliverable: A visual brief, asset record, and documented scientific review.
Gather these inputs
- A single teaching objective and the intended use of the visual
- Approved reference material and permission or license records
- A named subject reviewer and, when needed, a medical illustrator
The workflow
01Classify the visual
Write whether the asset is evidence, a teaching model, or decoration. If viewers could infer a clinical finding or anatomical relationship from it, review that implication even when the asset began as decoration.
- AI can help
- Help list possible audience interpretations and propose simpler ways to communicate the intended idea.
- You decide
- Choose the appropriate medium. Use real, appropriately sourced clinical images when the task is recognition of actual findings.
- Keep
- A purpose statement and a visual type.
02Specify the science
List required structures, relationships, labels, perspective, and changes over time. State which simplifications are allowed and which would distort the lesson. Give a medical illustrator the references and the teaching brief together.
- AI can help
- Turn your supplied requirements into a production brief and flag inconsistencies between labels and descriptions.
- You decide
- Verify the references and the complete structure list. AI-generated anatomy is not a reference source.
- Keep
- A reference-based visual specification.
03Make an editable draft
Prefer assets with editable labels and geometry when those elements carry the lesson. Keep the source art, labels, animation, and data separately editable so a correction does not require starting over.
- AI can help
- Prototype layout, write animation code around approved geometry, or produce alternative label arrangements.
- You decide
- Inspect spatial relationships and every animation state. Generated code can make an inaccurate mechanism look convincing.
- Keep
- An editable draft with a static fallback.
04Review the teaching claim
Check structures, orientation, proportions where relevant, labels, color meaning, and causal motion. Then show the visual without narration and ask what it appears to claim. Record each correction against the version reviewed.
- AI can help
- Prepare a review checklist from the brief and compare label text between versions.
- You decide
- A qualified person checks the scientific content. Where expertise is insufficient, bring in the appropriate specialist or medical illustrator.
- Keep
- A corrected asset and a review record.
05Package the context
Attach the origin, license or permission, reference sources, meaningful simplifications, alternative text, and actual AI contribution. Keep decorative artwork visibly separate from diagnostic or measured material.
- AI can help
- Draft alternative text and assemble the asset register from verified notes.
- You decide
- Confirm that descriptions match the final asset and that the intended reuse is covered. Attribute collaborators accurately.
- Keep
- A reusable asset with its provenance and limitations.
A useful starting prompt
This prompt scaffolds a task. It does not verify its own output or replace the review described above.
Use material you are authorized to share. Replace the bracketed inputs and review the result against the original sources.
What changes in practice
A realistic-looking generated eye is used to explain a mechanism without a structure-by-structure check.
An editable schematic uses a defined set of structures and reviewed motion, with its simplifications stated beside it.
A convincing surface is not a validation method. The brief and review record make the meaning of the visual inspectable.
See how we label models and illustrative visuals ↗Ready for handoff
- The visual's purpose and allowed simplifications are written down.
- Anatomy, labels, and motion have been checked in the final version.
- Sources and asset permissions are recorded separately.
- The meaning remains clear without color alone, motion, or narration.
Sources and further reading
Source links checked October 2, 2026. Our production workflows are editorial recommendations; provider requirements apply to their own activities.
ACCME · January 30, 2026
Guidance on disclosure, oversight, and independence in ACCME-accredited education.
ARBO / COPE
COPE's adopted standards for content validity and independence. Check the applicable provider's requirements.