Overview
A medical illustrator is a professional artist with extensive training in medicine and science, who creates visual material to help record and disseminate medical, biological and related information.
Medical illustration is a relatively exclusive field: although the need for their services is great, there still is just a small cadre of these highly skilled artists in practice. The Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI) estimates a total of just 1,200 Medical Illustrators in all of North America.
This is partly due to the small number of medical illustration program graduates and partly due to the rapid growth in health-related research and development: as new treatments and technologies arise, so does the need for accompanying illustrations. Not surprisingly, then, the employment outlook for medical illustrators is excellent.
In fact, medical illustrator is one of the Top Ten Hot Jobs of 2007, according to AOL's CareerBuilder.com website. Typically a medical illustrator earns a salary of $47,000 to $73,000 per year.
Medical illustrators work closely with physicians and medical researchers. Their artwork appears in textbooks, professional journals, exhibits, instructional videotapes and films, computer-assisted learning programs, lecture presentations, medical ads, general magazines and programs for television.
Some medical illustrators specialize in a particular facet of medicine. If they are especially good, they can become highly respected and sought-after for their skills in such areas as:
- forensic reconstruction
- ophthalmological illustration
- medical-legal presentations
- prosthetic devices
Although the majority of medical illustrators produce work for print and projection media, some also work in three dimensions, creating anatomical teaching models, models for simulated medical procedures and prosthetic parts for patients. Medical illustrators not only produce such material, but also function as consultants.
There is also an expanding need for web-based and multimedia medical teaching, and many illustrators become authors and co-authors of textbooks and medical articles. In addition, as more patients demand better information about their own bodies and healthcare options, the need has grown for medical illustrations aimed at the lay public.
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Medical Illustrator 14 May 2008 [pdf, 161 KB]