84. MEDICAL ILLUSTRATOR JOB

A medical illustrator provides a multiskilled support service to those involved in patient care, teaching, education and research. They may specialize in medical photography or graphic services or undertake a combination of activities. They are employed by hospitals, medical schools, research establishments, universities, specialist publishers and private companies. This is a varied role that demands technical ability, an understanding of anatomy and good people skills.
Photographers and video producers are involved with delivering visual records of patients' conditions, operations and treatments for medical files, education and research. Graphic designers create artwork for posters, leaflets, audio-visual lecture material and corporate publications.
The work varies according to the size of the hospital department or team. In general, a department will have a number of medical illustrators with possibly one member of staff (or more) specializing in video filming and production. Activities for clinical photographers typically involve taking photographs of patients (often concentrating on just one part of the body that has been affected by illness or injury) and processing these images, taking photographs for research purposes (using digital techniques), undertaking more specialized photography, such as 3-D imaging or using specialist cameras, to photograph the structures of a particular part of the body (e.g. the eye, photographing the lens, cornea and retina), making video recordings of patients to illustrate problems with movement or an operation/surgical technique, arranging the necessary consents from patients, taking photographs of medical equipment to be used by clinicians for teaching purposes, taking photographs of hospital personnel, buildings and events for use in publicity materials and using desktop publishing packages to produce materials such as the hospital trust's newspaper or annual report.
They are specialized in certain areas of photography, e.g. bereavement photography (photographing babies that have been stillborn or have died shortly after birth, for parents to keep in remembrance) or forensic photography (photographing 'non-accidental injuries', such as human bite marks), using computers to download, edit and process digital images - software packages such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, or Kodak Photo Desk, are commonly used, at more senior levels, managing and training staff. These graphic designers also involve in producing artwork and designs for posters and patient information leaflets, producing presentations, posters, slides or overhead transparencies of patients and treatment procedures for use in lectures, conferences and medical journals, designing websites, for example the hospital trust's website for patients, doctors and the general public, designing the layout for annual reports and other corporate material.