I recently had an opportunity to connect with Dr. Tim Fedak a medical illustrator based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Tim Fedak has a Ph.D. (Biology) from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor Fine Art from NSCAD. His academic publication work also includes vertebrate palaeontology research. Tim produces custom medical illustrations and animations for academic and patient education publications. Here is a profession that crosses borders between the fine arts and sciences where the artist creates with scientific accuracy highly detailed yet engaging illustrations visually explaining complex medical concepts.
This image created by Tim Fedak represents a unique oblique view of the pharynx showing the anaesthetic nerve block in the piriform sinus.
Truly art in action and practice such work communicates well beyond words effectively representing medical treatments and procedures.
Tim sees his work as a medical illustrator as rewarding and challenging, an ongoing learning process.
"I do enjoy the challenges of my work as a medical artist - it combines my academic knowledge of biology and medicine with my skills and experience as an artist. My international clients are experts in their respective fields and it's a pleasure to serve them and learn from their experience.... the work is incredibly interesting"
You can see Dr. Tim Fedak's work and visit the site at http://www.medical-illustrations.ca/ and blog -"Medical Illustration Studio Blog".
In a recent post Tim explores issues in the medical illustrations field and Open Access publishing.
"I’ve previously discussed the impact of open access publications on the activity and role of a medical illustrator. Another aspect of the open access publishing trend will be the need to consider implications of the wider audience base for the development of suitable visuals to accompany medical publications and educational programs. The issue of cultural diversity, audience, and visual communication is also relevant to the consideration of medical illustrations in open access medical journals. The idea that one of the benefits provided by open access is its unrestricted distribution and ability to reach a more diverse audience base brings the issue of audience and visual conventions to the forefront. "
This quote from the Medical Illustration Studio Blog
