Why hire trained medical illustrators?

What is Medical Illustration?

The field of medical illustration is one that is perhaps unknown to many. We are surrounded by its imagery - in the media, on posters hanging in the doctors office or in patient information leaflet explaining disease or a surgical procedure. Often people do not realise that these images are created by specialists. I have lost track of how many people have been shocked at my job title and say something along the lines of “I never realised that was an actual job!” Or “Huh, I guess someone would have to have made those diagrams in the biology textbooks wouldn’t they!?”

Yes, and that is where we come in.

Why would I need a medical illustrator?

If you have a research paper, a book of anatomy and physiology or are establishing a startup medical device company, it is likely that you will need to get in touch with a certified or trained professional illustrator. These individuals have undergone training in medical art or biomedical visualisation and have obtained their Masters of Science degree in the subject. As part of their training they learn about anatomy and learn how to conduct thorough scientific research to ensure that what they are creating is accurate. This training sets them aside from general illustrators.

Could I not just hire a general illustrator?

You may ask why this training is helpful and could a general illustrator not produce a similar result under instruction from the client.

Before I had undergone my training as a medical illustrator, during my undergraduate degree I did my first medical illustration freelance commission. This experience was so valuable and really highlighted that I was doing the right thing by deciding to specialise and learn the anatomy with an MSc Medical Art after my undergraduate. I felt out of my depth during this project. I did not know the anatomy of what I was drawing and I did not know how to research it. This lead to quite a lot of back and forth with the client as he tried to explain what he needed and I anxiously hoped I was understanding him correctly.

From the clients point of view this would have been a lot more effort on his part than he maybe desired when he reached out to me. Not only that, the outcome was not anything unique or special. The unfamiliarity with the subject matter meant that I did not feel comfortable enough to be creative or try to offer the client something more tailored to their project.

Our clients trust us to to create accurate imagery, avoiding any embarrasing misrepresentation such as misplaced organs or backwards DNA - an extremely common error. These are things that may seem trivial to the general public, but it can lower the credibility of the science that is being communicated.

When medical imagery goes wrong

To support this further, let have a look at a couple of times that things have gone really wrong. The first example is this advert (see right).

Yes, the brain is backwards and yes, this was published.
In 2015 this full-page ad was published across The New York Times, The LA Times, The Washington Post, or The Boston Globe. It is so important to hire a medical illustrator to avoid such errors that could be quite damaging to a companies name and reputation.

This image went flyng around the medical illustration community, with everyone in shock that a basic error could be made and that the error was not picked up by anyone before it was published. We were all saying the same thing:

“they should have hired a professional medical illustrator… that is what we are here for!”

Reasons why it is best to hire a trained medical illustrator.

• Scientific accuracy.
  It is FAR more likely that you will be presented with an accurate illustration, even in the early drafts. A medical illustrator’s training means that they know how to research the subject matter and have a general understanding of the anatomy. No backwards organs!

• Easier communication.
  If you are a medical expert, it is important that you can easily describe your science to the person who is going to be creating the illustration. Medical illustrators are accustom to scientific and medical vernacular and have at the very least a good general understanding of anatomy. We are able to visualise what you are describing far easier than someone who has not undergone any training. This will speed up the whole process and help you to feel more at ease throughout the production.

• Innovative solutions.
  You do not want to commission a unique piece of work for it to turn out like many other illustrations that are already available. Having the knowledge of the human body and utilising different research methods, from reading research papers to looking at CT data, a medical illustrator can look at the story you are trying to tell and come up with interesting new concepts and ways of visualising it.

  Medical illustrators are fantastic storytellers and consider many of the finer details the client may not consider. Such as the demographic of the person they are illustrating - too often we see a very atheletic looking 3D figure having a heart attack!

• Best practices.
  The US have a Certified Medical Illustrator (CMI) accreditation, which the individual needs to have completed a degree from a recognised college/university or they have at least 5 years of experience working as a medical illustrator and have completed a college-level course in anatomy or equivalent.
  “A CMI has successfully passed examinations in business practices, ethics, biomedical science, and drawing skills and has undergone a rigorous portfolio review. Please note however, the CMI credential is not necessary or required for a medical illustrator to be a skilled and successful practitioner.” - Association of Medical Illustrators
  
  We do not have an equal accreditation in the Europe that has such a rigorous acceptance procedure, however we do have the Institute of Medical Illustrators (IMI), The Medical Artists’ Association (MAA) and Association Européenne des Illustrateurs Medicaux et Scientifiques (AEIMS) that many practicing medical illustrators are part of, and who only accept members who have attended an recognised medical/scientific illustration course.

  These organisations require their members to keep a continued professional development (CPD) record, ensuring that they are continuing to develop their skills, learn and keep up with best practices.