10 Issue 01, Page 1 Undergraduate Biology News Vol. If not, it is time that you start doing so. Here is some information on a more non-traditional career for biologists that may be of interest to some of you. The field of medical illustration bridges the disciplines of art, science, medicine, and communication. Medical illustrators create visual materials that communicate vital information to doctors, medical students, health educators, and patients who are better able to understand their conditions because of representations of the human body.
Many illustrators form their own companies, or they freelance.
In general, medical illustrators use a variety of techniques such as drawing, painting, and more recently, computer modeling and animation, depending on the purpose of their artwork. Adobe Illustrator and Adobe PhotoShop are the most widely used digital tools, followed by QuarkXPress and CorelDraw. To become a medical illustrator, an individual must have an aptitude fro drawing and painting as well as a strong interest in science. Standard entrance requirements include a baccalaureate degree with a decent GPA, GRE scores, and a portfolio of 15 to 30 slides that establish artistic talent in a variety of modalities. The curriculum is evenly divided between art and science classes.