These media include publications, slides, exhibits, and three-dimensional models. Because their work is widely varied, practitioners in this field must possess skill in the conceptual development of illustrations, and be accomplished artists in all the traditional media and in commercial art techniques including graphic design, layout, and type specification. M edical artists teach by means of their art work, and to insure accuracy, they must have a foundation in anatomy, in other basic medical sciences, and in general medicine and surgery. While some illustrators specialize in a single medium or medical discipline, most medical artists are generalists. They can render with meticulous realism or reduce an intricate concept to a schematic diagram.
Assignments run the gamut from charts and graphs to complex surgical procedures.
Basic to the profession is the competent specialized education of already skilled creative artists. B iomedical Photographers must have a thorough knowledge of photographing procedures and technology. The photographic techniques used cover nearly every aspect of photography with several techniques, vital microphotogra- phy and surgical motion pictures, for example, being unique to biomedical photography. In addition to having a comprehensive knowledge of photography, biomedical photographers must have a basic understanding of the biologi- cal sciences. They must perform at the very high standards that are typical of professionals in the health and life sciences.