Overview
Joanna was commissioned by consultant neurologist Dr Chris Allen from Cambridge to complete medical illustrations in pencil to accompany articles to be published in the journal Practical Neurology. Practical Neurology is the official journal of the Association of British Neurologists and published by the BMJ.
The journal is the monthly publication that provides coverage of medical care, cosmetic advancements, and practice management for clinicians in the field. Dr Allen was asked by the editors of Practical Neurology to write two articles on clinical student teaching. He has been heavily involved with education since being in Cambridge where he was Clinical Dean in the University.
Dr Allen was educated in the Medical Sciences at Christ’s College in Cambridge and trained in Clinical Medicine at Guy’s Hospital London and with postgraduate medical experience at Guy’s, St Thomas’ and the Middlesex Hospitals and the National Hospital for Neurology in London. Dr Chris Allan was a Consultant Neurologist at Addenbrooke’s hospital Cambridge. Addenbrooke’s Hospital which is an internationally renowned teaching hospital in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. The hospital is a busy regional neurosurgical centre and has the largest neurological intensive care unit of its kind in Europe. Retiring from a full-time position at Addenbrooke’s hospital in 1986 Dr Allen still works running the MND Care Clinic at Addenbrooke’s as well as carrying out private and medico-legal work when required.
Project Brief
The brief was to create two medical illustrations for the first article called ‘Neuromythology: Does it matter how you hold the toe?’ which is the technique testing ‘joint position sense’ with patients. The article was written to show the disparity between what was deemed the ‘right’ way or the ‘correct’ way to carry out the joint sense position. An illustration was needed to demonstrate the two ways.
The second article by Dr Allen was called ‘Neuromythology: The proper way or the best way to do the ankle jerk?’ This required two illustrations to demonstrate the technique Plantar strike and Achilles strike. Again, there is a ‘right’ way and a ‘correct’ way. This technique is used to test the state of the tendon reflexes and are an important piece of evidence in assessing a patient’s motor physiology, of which cannot be replaced by imaging technology.
The Result
Dr Allen said he was pleased that the illustrations were completed in pencil as we later discovered that he was a bit of an art fan and an advocate for the use of medical illustrations within health education, and especially the traditional methods. The pencil illustrations also illustrated the points well and were a good addition to the written article.