Surgeons and medical illustrators: A symbiotic relationship

Medical illustration has played a crucial role through the history of modern medicine. When, with the advent of asepsis and anesthesia, complex surgery became possible, surgeons needed illustrators to describe their exploits, and hand-drawn figures were far clearer than early photographs. Today's high-definition image capture is often still not as useful as medical illustrations: rather than faithfully representing reality, medical illustration aims to inform and teach - to be didactic. It does not even have to be high art: we "all" draw in our daily practice, and we can all hone our visual communication skills.