What is Scientific or Medical Illustration? And other FAQ

 

Question: I am possibly interested in becoming an illustrator. Is there much competition?

Answer: It is a very competitive field. If you love it and you feel that you must do it, then do it. Otherwise, don't do it. There is a great straight-forward book about the obstacles you will encounter and the ways to deal with them: Starting Your Career as a Freelance Illustrator or Graphic Designer. It is worth much more than the $14 amazon charges.

Different areas of the field

Scientific illustration and medical illustration are two separate fields. Within those fields are several sub-fields. There are a variety of employer types in the field, such as working for museums, universities, hospitals, parks, etc. But most illustrators in the field freelance either on the side or full time. I discuss setting up your business in the business resources section.

Scientific illustration
Scientific illustrators / natural science illustrators specialize in just about any species of plant, animal or environment that you can think of. There are botanical illustrators, fish illustrators, interpretive illustrators, general science illustrators, underwater environment illustrators, outer space illustrators, etc. Some good resources to check out if you are interested specifically in scientific (rather than medical) illustration are the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI.org), which is one of the nicest groups of people I have met, besides being incredibly talented and diverse. Another good resource is the National Association for Interpretation. They put out a magazine called Legacy, which will give you a good sense of what interpretation is and where the jobs in the field lie.

Scientific illustrators come at the field with different backgrounds. Most of the scientific illustrators that I have met either have a background in biology (such as a bachelors degree in biology or biochemistry) or a combination of biology and art background (such as a bachelor of fine art or a masters of fine art). You can get into the field without the science background, but you are at a disadvantage when finding and dealing with clients. And of course the important thing, when you are freelancing, is your portfolio and knowledge. A degree is not necessarily helpful for freelancers, but the self-assurance that comes with a degree is very important.
There are a few schools that offer degrees in scientific illustration (discussed in the education section). If you have the time and money to go through one of these programs, it will make your life easier.

Medical illustration
Medical illustrators work or freelance for pharmaceutical companies, universities, magazines, publishers, hospitals, etc. Specialties include surgical illustration, veterinary illustration, anatomical illustration, etc.
“Medical Illustrator” is a more specific title than scientific illustrator. It implies an education or substantial professional experience in medical illustration.

Medical illustrators generally have a master’s degree in medical illustration. Some medical illustrators have a medical degree. There are a few universities in North America that offer a masters degree in medical illustration (although the degrees have different names). These are masters degrees, but some of the classes are taken along with medical students, and those classes generally include human anatomy. The schools have different focuses such as surgical illustration, veterinary illustration, traditional illustration or 3d animation, etc. The schools are listed in the education section.

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Linking information

Title: Medical Illustration
URL: http://biomedical-illustration.com
Description: Information for scientific illustrators, medical illustrators, graphic designers that specialize in medical content, and those who hire them.

If you would like a reciprocal link, send your linking information (URL, title, & description) along with the page that you link to this site from, if applicable, to . Unrelated web sites will not be considered. Suggestions welcome.

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