<p>Does anybody know anything about the career opportunities and the path to getting into grad school for Medical Illustration.
My current college doesn't really have a science program, so if i decide to pursue medical illustration I'd either take a year off and go to a school with a good science program, or transfer to a school with a undergrad program in medical illustration.</p>
<p>Any thoughts or recommendations?</p>
<p>Medical illustration is a very, very specialized field, and as far as I know, there are no accredited undergrad programs in it. In fact, there are only 4 accredited masters programs in the US (plus 1 in Canada). They are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Medical College of Georgia (August, GA),</li>
<li>University of Illinois at Chicago,</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD),</li>
<li>University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas, TX), and</li>
<li>University of Toronto.</li>
</ul>
<p>You might be able to get some useful info from the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI), which is the professional society for that field. Here’s the link to their website:</p>
<p>[Association</a> of Medical Illustrators](<a href=“http://www.ami.org/]Association”>http://www.ami.org/)</p>
<p>UC Santa Cruz Extension also offers a 1 year certificate program in Science Illustration. Only 15 students are admitted and a science background is required.</p>
<p>There are bachelor’s programs in medical illustration at Rochester Institute of Tecnology, Cleveland Institute of art, Youngstown State University, and Iowa State university (Biological/Pre-medical Illustration)—not sure about certification for these, though.</p>
<p>Not sure about these, but you might check U Michigan and Columbia U, too—not sure what dept.</p>
<p>I was actually looking into possibly transferring to RIT’s undergrad program. I just don’t know how helpful it would be getting my foot into the industry.</p>
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If your only want someone to animate your assignments you could take their service for that.</p>
<p>I’m a 1981 BFA medical illustration graduate from RIT. I choose the school because of the program and the fact you were admitted into the program as a freshman. Freshman year was a core program - 2D, 3D, creative sources, art hsitory. Medical illustration technique and theory classes started the following year. We discected cadevars at University of Rochester and did drawings during surgical procedures at local hospitals.</p>
<p>Soon after I graduated I became an active member of the Association of Medical Illustrators and later became a Board Certified Medical Illustrator. The AMI is the main governing body and being connected is important.</p>
<p>My first job was a staff illustrator at a hospital in Baltimore - I worked there for 5 years. Then I moved to another state and did a lot of freelance work - book illustration, demonstrative evidence for attorneys and patient education. Now I own an art school and teach art to children.</p>
<p>RIT’s program has embraced a lot more technology from the time I was there. I think the program looks incredible.</p>
<p>Thanks Techiemom, that response really helped.
Right now I’m deciding between RIT and Iowa State.
Coming out of RIT’s program, would you say it prepared its students for the challenge of getting accepted into a graduate program?</p>
<p>The class sizes were really small - we had about 7 in our class, maybe 8. I remember most looking for jobs out of college more than heading to grad school. Becoming active with the AMI was important. I went to annual and regional meetings and worked on meeting people and making connections. </p>
<p>When I interviewed for my first medical illustration job I clearly remember the department head saying - why would I hire you when we have Hopkins graduates. I left not expecting anything. Weeks later I got a call offering me the job - he said he liked my work and that all the Hopkins portfolios looked the same. Who knows how true any of that was but regardless I was hired.</p>
<p>I have a masters in Instructional Technology. While I was working as a staff medical illustrator my employeer paid for most of it. Ironically I was in Baltimore but opted for Towson and MICA instead of grad school at Hopkins. </p>
<p>Being in Baltimore I took advantage of being close to Washington and also joined the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. I went to their meetings and workshops and learned lots of additional techniques. Many AMI members were also Guild members.</p>
<p>From my experience in the field you have to be willing to move to find good positions and advance your career. I moved once for my first job and went freelance after that. Once I got married and had a family I wasn’t willing to move again. Freelance work was good but intense and always with a quick deadline. The attorney work was really interesting and I was fortunate to work for excellent, credible firms but cases can settle at any moment. There were many times cases would settle as we were sitting outside of the courtwork drawings ready to go.</p>
<p>The field has changed a lot from when I started. A great deal of work is done with computer drawing programs now so look for a program that offers that. We did most of the work, including huge drawings, by hand. Computers were used more for creating labels.</p>
<p>Having a medical illustration degree has been good for my career. Even with what I do now people always find it intriguing and credible. I really enjoyed it the years I was actively involved with it - I like what I do now too.</p>
<p>Wow Techimom. Thanks for such a great response. You just blew my mind.</p>
<p>I’ve heard similar stories about supposedly great schools integrating a certain style into their students. I come from burbank where all the animation studios are, and I’ve heard of animation recruiters wanting to vomit if they see one more Art Center or Otis portfolio.</p>
<p>Your response really reassured me, and I definitely want to go for it now.</p>