About Medical-Artist.com
Medical-artist.com is the trading name under Medical Artist Ltd and we are a medical illustration creation agency based in Surrey in the UK. We provide high impact art and illustration and animation services. We are trained specialists in the creation of medical and anatomical art and our work is focused on servicing clients within the health, medical, educational, publishing and advertising industries.
Our Goal
Medical illustration and medical visuals have a definitive purpose to aid the communication and education of complex medical content and to convey important concepts. Through the application of art and our training in anatomy our goal is to enable marketing departments to come to us with a written brief and we work with them to produce illustrations, drawings, animations in order to enhance, promote, educate any type of medical communication or advertising needs to targeted audiences.
Our Process
As a team we work on a huge variety of projects. On the large projects it is properly planned starting with the requirements gathering phase, with detailed proposals and project planning that ensures delivery to deadlines on time and on budget.
With anatomically trained artists we are able to create medical illustrations as drawn from scratch storyboards starting with pencil sketches that are tailored and unique to each project and importantly the communication message.
Over the years our bank of existing illustrations has grown so we can supply illustrations for immediate licensing or we can adapt illustrations to suit a clients brief to meet tight deadlines and budgets.
Our process is we make full use of our fully equipped medical illustration studio providing the technical backup for each project, including having a library of reference and research material with high resolution scanning and printing equipment.
Our End Result
We are about providing high end visual delivery along-side quality customer service. We are well prepared to keep up with the fast moving developments in technology so we can meet ever evolving customer needs. We pride ourselves in being able to take ‘any client brief’ and find a clever solution to deliver fantastic visual results, on time and on budget.
Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI)
As part of our commitment as a professional medical artist business we are members of the US based Association of Medical Illustrators. As a business we are keen to verify our professional status across the continents and we are very proud to have been accepted as members. After all, 50% of our business for medical art comes from the US… read more about the Association of Medical Illustrators
The Guild of Natural Science Illustrators
Being a member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators allows us to be part of a worldwide community joined with like-minded people. What this US guild has to offer is the range of scientific and natural history art that is aimed for the science illustration community.
It has provided us with an opportunity to meet, share ideas and learn about what other artists are doing. Although we are medical illustrators primarily, which concentrates on human anatomical or medical disciplines, we are also closely aligned with the field of natural science illustration as it requires similar artistic methods. We do get asked to complete scientific or veterinary illustrations from time to time and we enjoy the variety.
This is coupled with the opportunity at the Guild to develop our skills with publications, workshops, and meetings. It has a wealth of information on science illustration and communication. It’s a nonprofit organization founded to provide opportunities to meet, share ideas, and spread the knowledge of visual science techniques.
The Institute of Medical Illustrators
As well as the Medical Artists’ Association there is a second UK association where qualified medical artists can join as members, the Institute of Medical Illustrators or IMI. Since we have been members we have attended every conference, enjoyed a great welcome and hospitality and are able to mix with medical photographers, to medical illustration department managers as well as freelance medical artists and NHS staff. At the conferences we feel that being able to spend three days listening to staff that work directly with patients on a daily basis is a huge bonus. This is because medical photographers primarily work in hospitals working with patients. Unless you work in a hospital its this direct contact that freelance medical artists do not always have, especially on a daily basis.
Established in 1968 the IMI has set and maintained standards for the medical illustration profession, bringing together the disciplines of clinical photography, medical art, illustration, graphic design and video within healthcare. It makes for a very diverse group who are a highly specialised and skilled contributing to the care of patients and the teaching of medicine and allied health subjects.
This range of delegates at the conferences creates some fantastic workshops, learning the latest 3d software techniques, to life drawing, to listening to new members and being able to enter illustration work into the IMI exhibition and awards. Its great to see an exhibition with medical photography as well as medical art. It brings home the value of both skills within patient education.
In summary we are really pleased to have been accepted as IMI members and our gain is huge. The fact that the IMI have negotiated full registered status with the National Register of Medical Illustration Practitioners for all its qualified Members means automatic status of RMIP and entitles members to use the letters RMIP after their name.
As an independent medical illustration studio the IMI provides us as members an umbrella of a Code of Professional Conduct and a Continuing Professional Development scheme. And we shall continue to be active members having held two workshops last year 2015 on how to create a ‘digital’ medical illustration. With one those of those workshops accepted as a written paper into IMI’s major refereed publication, the Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine. A widely recognised publication and the leading European publication in its field.
The Medical Artists Education Trust (MAET) and The Medical Artists Association of GB (MAA)
To become a qualified medical artist in the UK can be achieved through studying a relevant course to a post graduate level. There are a few such courses in the UK to study medical illustration and one such postgraduate training programme is The Medical Artists’ Education Trust or MAET. This is the course that Joanna studied and further details can be seen here (link to RSC’s)
The Medical Artists Education Trust was founded in 1949 in order to gain recognition for the profession for medical artists and to provide a place where selected artists could be trained as medical artists and become trusted employees in a professional environment. The course today is carried out by tutors who progress artists both in artistic skills as well as human anatomy. The course has a syllabus where a student will produce a portfolio of work and have to pass a series of examinations and on successful completion be awarded a professional qualification.
Once an artist has been become a qualified medical artist and they start to work professionally, it is necessary that they join the appropriate relevant governing bodies. This involves paying a nominal subscription fee and in doing so become members. It shows both commitment to the profession and the desire to maintain the necessary standards. Memberships also bring about these three opportunities.
- Once qualified an artist can automatically apply to become a member of The Medical Artists’ Association of GB (MAA). This affords the artists the use of post-nominal letters or designatory letters placed after their name of MMAA (Member of The Medical Artists Association). The MAA was founded in 1949 and its aim to be recognised by the medical profession of Great Britain as the only Association representing British medical artists and to safeguard the professional status of qualified artists in institutions.
- Once qualified an artist can automatically apply to become a member of the Committee for the Accreditation of Medical Illustration Practitioners (CAMIP). CAMIP is a separate governing body whose aim is to protect the public by accepting only those medical illustrators who meet high standards for their training, professional skills and behaviour. They carry out Continuing Professional Development or CPD audits and members are expected to keep portfolios and professional activities documented ready for inspection.
- Once accepted by CAMIP the artist receives Registered Medical Illustration Practitioner (RMIP) status. This affords the artists the use of post-nominal letters or designatory letters placed after their name of RMIP (Registered Medical Illustration Practitioner).
By becoming members of these relevant governing bodies means that medical artists are shown to have met the professional standards having received the necessary training required to work within the medical and health industries.
It gives potential clients confidence in competency and training and by belonging to a professional body affords that artist the opportunities to mix with peers and to continue to maintain high standards through attending conferences and workshops.
Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS Eng.)
Joanna’s training with The Medical Artist’s Education Trust (MAET) post graduate course was held in London located at the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS Eng.) The training was carried out by the MAET tutors and involved being allowed access to the College’s museum and access to the cased specimens. We worked on observational skills by sketching the anatomy using the cased specimens on display, painting and improving on artist techniques and completing written course work. We also received anatomy tuition and observation of cadavers led by professor of anatomy, Professor Christopher Buckland-Wright BSc, AKC, PhD, DSc, Anatomical Sciences.
Being able to study at the RCS’s meant enjoying access to their huge range of cased specimen exhibits both those held out of public view in the pathology unit as well as those held on public display in the Hunterian Museum. In order to study anatomical structures with in the human body itself, further tuition was carried out with dissected cadavers. Being taught anatomy with dissected cadavers proved invaluable. To see structures in situ on a human body is a privilege. Being able to see first-hand the proportions of real anatomy was incredible, such as tiny, tiny nerves, to the surprisingly large size of the aorta, to seeing muscle fibers run in their different striations, to understanding how muscle structure is made up of multiple bundles of cells , to see the white almost translucent connective tissue layers of the fasciae. To see real human anatomy in this way has been fundamental in Joanna’s ability to draw anatomy accurately.
The history of the RCS started with a trade guild called the Barber-Surgeons in 1540. It was a London livery company that examined trainees within the City of London. It is at this time that Surgeons were becoming more established and wanting their own identity the Barber-Surgeons split. Looking for a premises of their own a property was bought in Lincoln’s Inn Fields 1796 as well as the purchase of the museum of the late surgeon and scientist John Hunter. So in 1800 at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, The Royal College of Surgeons of London was formed with the Hunterian museum opening slightly later in 1813.
This wonderful resource continues to be a unique place with which to return in order to draw anatomy referring to real specimens ideal when working on client projects.
2016 Year Highlights
Some of the goals we have reached this year
Members
Customers
Projects
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