Medical illustration is art applied to medicine, a fusion of science and the graphic image. Medical illustration is a descriptive term for the work of highly-trained professional artists who choose medicine as their subject matter. It can be extremely realistic and anatomically-precise or thematic and interpretive, or even abstract and wildly conceptual.
Media used by medical illustrators can be high tech or folksy.
A bachelor s degree with a major in art and a minor in science, or a major in science and a minor in art is preferred. Art courses should include drawing, advanced life drawing, painting, color theory, advertising design, illustration, computer graphics, and photography. In the sciences, students should include general biology or zoology, vertebrate anatomy, embryology, physiology, chemistry, and histology. Science courses must be of the caliber required for medical school. Medical illustrators must have a detailed knowledge of living organisms, surgical and medical procedures, and human and sometimes animal anatomy.