Medspeak Illuminated - by Luks (Paperback)

About the Book

In this comprehensive and practical guide to medical illustration, pediatric surgeon Franðcois I. Luks provides a useful overview of the field and explains its essential function in facilitating true communication between healthcare providers and their patients.

From the Back Cover

Guiding us to better communication about illness, treatment, and health through simple art practices

Living at the intersection of medicine and art, medical illustration is a field that is not well understood by most--especially by physicians and other healthcare practitioners. In this comprehensive and practical guide to medical illustration, pediatric surgeon François I. Luks provides a useful overview of the field and explains its essential function in facilitating true communication between healthcare providers and their patients.

MedSpeak Illuminated: The Art and Practice of Medical Illustration begins with a history of the field, including some of its historical controversies and darker aspects, such as the relative lack of diversity in medical illustrations. Currently, Luks asserts, an increased recognition that medical illustration has long been complicit in promoting a single (white, male) view of health and disease has begun to result in changes to practice and content. He argues that increasing diversity and equity--in illustration and among illustrators--is ultimately good for our health. As he moves forward to describe its place in our current healthcare systems and educational programs, Luks also points to the scientific breakthroughs specifically made by illustrators. In addition, he highlights trends in medical education that emphasize humanism and compassion, thus making the need for better methods of communication even more urgent.

MedSpeak Illuminated offers simple advice and techniques that can be followed by even the nonartists among us to use illustration in medical settings as part of our conversations. Like the illuminated manuscripts of old, MedSpeak Illuminated provides visual components for better and deeper understanding, an invaluable resource for students, practitioners, and all those committed to becoming better communicators and more caring professionals.

Review Quotes

"In this insightful and engaging book, Dr. Luks weaves together the history of medicine and art to describe the deep connections between the two fields and their contributions to the modern practice of biomedical visualization. This combination of historical grounding and real-world application makes MedSpeak Illuminated a unique and essential resource for all interested in medical illustration as a profession and as a means of communication."--Jill K. Gregory, president-elect, Association of Medical Illustrators

"There is only one person who could have written MedSpeak Illuminated and that is the master surgeon and accomplished artist François Luks. A must-read for every medical professional--and everyone with an interest in exceptional, informative, and entertaining writing. This is a true magnum opus." --G. Wayne Miller, author of King of Hearts: The True Story of the Maverick Who Pioneered Open Heart Surgery

"Very few people have the breadth of knowledge and practical experience to write on the intersection of seemingly disparate fields of art, medicine, history, science, graphic arts, and communication. Not surprisingly, there is a paucity of informative text in this multi-disciplinary arena of medical illustration. This book is a tour de force that amalgamates all these fields, not only from a historical perspective, but more importantly, as a genuine handbook of usable art and graphic techniques for both the artist and clinical practitioner. With rich illustrations, François Luks coherently explores the vast life-science specialties that medical/scientific illustration touches--all in effortless prose. This book should be a staple on the bookshelf of every biomedical communicator, clinician, and medical historian." --Ian Suk, professor of neurosurgery and art as applied to medicine, Johns Hopkins University

"Through crystal-clear writing and a wealth of illustrations, MedSpeak Illuminated beautifully demonstrates the braided connection between medicine and scientific visualization. Never pedantic, always engaging, Luks's genial tone belies his seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of the history of medicine and of medical illustration--from bloodletting to MRIs, from medieval woodcuts to the 3D rendering of SARS-CoV-2. An accomplished surgeon and born teacher, he convincingly--and entertainingly--makes the case that effective communication is the beating heart of both medical illustration and the art of medicine." --Sarah C. Baldwin, former director of communications, the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

"Dr. François Luks, a skilled surgeon, talented artist, and supreme humanist, is a one-of-a-kind ambassador to the art of healing. MedSpeak Illuminated is more than a book about medical illustration. It challenges us to look deeply at the human body and think differently about how we appreciate, understand, and connect with others." --Jay Baruch, author of Fourteen Stories: Doctors, Patients, and Other Strangers

About the Author

François I. Luks is professor of surgery at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University and pediatric surgeon-in-chief at Hasbro Children's Hospital. As a medical student, he drew a daily comic strip for several newspapers and later started to illustrate some of his own research publications, then those of colleagues. MedSpeak Illuminated grew out of the full semester course in medical illustration he teaches for undergraduate students at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design.