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Medical Art for Patient Information

The Role of the Medical Illustrator in Patient Education

Patient education is a key and vital part in the role of the medical illustrator. To do it well, the medical artist must be able to pick up written text containing medical jargon, converse with surgeons and doctors, collate numbers and figures, interpret customers stick men drawings, coax ideas from those who don't actually know what they want, and turn it all into visually appealing, anatomically correct drawings or diagrams, or anything involving living matter.

Medical Illustration is a unique and fascinating service. Read on to discover how this service may help you.

What is Patient Education

Patient information is the process of providing information to not only existing patients but the general public too. The health profession are constantly working on providing improved medical techniques and drugs to maintain our health, to prevent Flu in the elderly to supplying antibiotics for example. The list is endless. So too are the ways in which patient information can be conveyed and should be conveyed to keep us all informed and up to date.

Medical artists can therefore take advantage of the electronic media, of digital presentations, illustrations, animations, leaflets, posters, TV ads, to communicate patient information. A trained medical artist will know all this, and work towards providing up to date ideas for their customers. The wonderful thing about art is that it is so flexible, it goes way beyond a photograph. An artist can be creative with the project, arriving with a new illustration each time that totally suits the brief. The project are always so different, it needs a medical artist to support the team.

Any media surrounding healthcare from pharmaceutical companies, medical equipment producers, to medical legal art, all require artwork based on medicine or human anatomy in some form or another. It is always advisable to use a medical artist who will have been trained in anatomy.

UK proof of credentials and worldwide recognised are that they will be a member of the Medical Artists' Association of Great Britain and a Registered Medical Illustration Practitioner, certifying they have been trained in anatomy as well as art. With this training, the medical artist can vitality produce correct anatomical drawings.

 

Patient positioning for spinal aneasthesias

Patient positioning for spinal aneasthesia

The vein in cross section

Cross section through a vein

 
A medical illustration poster of RSIa

A patient information Poster of the causes of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). Aimed at the general public explaining cause and prevention

A medical illustration of a total knee replacement surgery Step 1

Medical illustration focusing on the lower lumbar region with trapped nerves. Demonstrating area to those suffering with back pain.

A medical illustration showing how a broken tailbone can tighten the dura up the spine

A diagram of a broken tailbone. This can tighten the dura up the spine region. A visual story to those who have suffered this injury.

 
Anesthesia increases patient comfort, which can in turn reduce recovery times

Medical artists can explain the unseen like lumbar aneasthesia

Spinal anesthetics have their effects at the spinal cord, which originates at the foramen magnum of the skull and the brainstem and extends caudally to the conus medullaris

Patient positioning in regards to lumbar aneasthesia

The vascular system

Anatomy of the vascular system

 
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease

Rheumatoid arthritis of the knee an auto immune disease

Gastroesophageal reflux GERDS

Gastroesophageal reflux GERDS

The flakes also occur alog the skin lines, prone to greasy areas, the corner of the mouth for example

Eczema or seborrhoeic dermatitis of the scalp, effecting face, chest