Medical illustrators are specially trained artists who communicate complex medical and scientific information and concepts in a meaningful, aesthetic, and understandable manner. This fascinating and unique profession requires not only a love of art but an affinity for science as well.
The demands placed upon the contemporary medical illustrator are varied and numerous. Medical illustrators may illustrate innovative surgical procedures for medical journals, design multimedia websites, produce 3D animated films of cellular processes, or hand craft prosthetic appliances for patients. Many medical illustrators are employed by medical schools, urban medical centers, large hospitals, and specialty clinics. They may work in single-artist studios or in large production departments. Advertising agencies and publishers as well as pharmaceutical and medical-product companies often use the services of private-practice medical illustrators. Attorneys may commission medical illustrators to produce art to be admitted as educational exhibits and demonstrative evidence in complex legal cases.
