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                                              Digital Commons @ Butler University

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3-17-2021

Introduction to Graphic Medicine
Brittany Heer

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/librarian_papers

   Part of the Health Sciences and Medical Librarianship Commons

Graphic Medicine
Brittany Heer, Health Sciences Librarian
Butler University Libraries

Agenda
1. Review definitions and research on graphic medicine

2. Learn how to integrate graphic medicine into the classroom

3. Sketch your own comic

Definitions and Research

An Evolving Identity
●           Not a new concept!
●           Green and Myers coined the term
            “graphic pathologies”
●           Williams defined GM as “graphic
            memoir of illness and trauma”
●           Callender et al describes GM as “an
            interdisciplinary field within the health
            humanities that encompasses the
            creation, use, and study of comics in
            medicine and health”

Green MJ, Myers KR. Graphic medicine: use of comics in medical education and patient care. BMJ. 2010;340:c863. doi:10.1136/bmj.c863
Williams ICM. Graphic medicine: comics as medical narrative. Med Humanit. 2012;38:21-27. doi:doi:10.1136/medhum-2011-010093
Callender B, Obuobi S, Czerwiec MK, Williams I. COVID-19, comics, and the visual culture of contagion. The Lancet.
2020;396(10257):1061-1063. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32084-5                                                                          Marchetto MA. Cancer Vixen : A True Story. 1st ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf; 2006.

MK Czerwiec, Ian Williams, Susan Merrill Squier, Michael J. Green,
Kimberly R. Myers, Scott T. Smith. Graphic Medicine Manifesto. Penn
State University Press; 2015.

What is graphic medicine?
The use of comics to
tell personal stories of
illness and health.

Graphic Medicine: Ill-Conceived & Well-Drawn! | NLM.
Accessed March 1, 2021.
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/graphicmedicine/index.h
tml                                                          MK Czerwiec. Taking Turns : Stories From HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371.
                                                             Penn State University Press; 2016. Accessed March 1, 2021.

So what does the research say?
●     Stories appealing to emotions are more effective than pure data and
      statistics (Kearns & Kearns, 2020)
●     “For students to develop into competent and caring professionals, it is
      crucial that they come to understand illness in all its complexity” (Green,
      2013, p. 472)
●     Empathy is critical in healthcare professionals, and GM can assist in this area
      (Sutherland et al, 2021)

 Kearns C, Kearns N. The role of comics in public health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Vis Commun Med. 2020;43(3):139-149.
 doi:10.1080/17453054.2020.1761248
 Green MJ. Teaching with Comics: A Course for Fourth-Year Medical Students. J Med Humanit. 2013;34(4):471-476. doi:10.1007/s10912-013-9245-5
 Sutherland T, Choi D, Yu C. “Brought to life through imagery” – animated graphic novels to promote empathic, patient-centred care in postgraduate medical learners. BMC
 Medical Education. 2021;21(1):66. doi:10.1186/s12909-021-02491-4

So Many Benefits!
                                                                                      ●   Combining images with text activates the
                                                                                          brain in ways that other channels do not
                                                                                      ●   Public health communication
                                                                                      ●   Patient compliance to treatment
                                                                                      ●   Aid patients in understanding an illness
                                                                                          or caregiving role, soft skills
                                                                                      ●   Aid doctors in understanding the patient
                                                                                          experience
                                                                                      ●   Encourage students to become careful
                                                                                          observers, mimics the diagnostic practice
                                                                                          of medicine
                                                                                      ●   Offers an opportunity for reflection

Al-Jawad M. Comics are Research: Graphic Narratives as a New Way of Seeing Clinical
Practice. J Med Humanit. 2015;36(4):369-374. doi:10.1007/s10912-013-9205-0

Marchetto MA. Cancer Vixen : A True Story. 1st
ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf; 2006.

GRAPHIC MEDICINE
   & COVID-19

                   Kearns C, Kearns N. The role of comics in public health communication during the COVID-19
                   pandemic. J Vis Commun Med. 2020;43(3):139-149. doi:10.1080/17453054.2020.1761248

“The Moment” by
                                                             Sunny Liew

https://mothership.sg/2020/04/sonny-liew-covid-19-comic/

Covid-19 LibGuide

Graphic Medicine
in the Classroom

MK Czerwiec on Graphic Medicine in Instruction

Michael Green: Teaching with Comics

Green’s Fill in the
    Dialogue Exercise

Green MJ. Teaching with Comics: A Course for Fourth-Year Medical Students. J Med
Humanit. 2013;34(4):471-476. doi:10.1007/s10912-013-9245-5

More Classroom Examples

Squier’s graphic medicine                                                                  Sutherland and colleagues
graduate-level seminar at Penn                                                             developed a graphic medicine
                                                                                           seminar for post-graduate
State, open to all students.                                                               medical students to promote
                                                                                           empathy in the clinic.

                                                                                           Sutherland T, Choi D, Yu C. “Brought to life through imagery” – animated graphic novels to
                                                                                           promote empathic, patient-centred care in postgraduate medical learners. BMC Medical
Squier SM. Graphic Medicine in the University. Hastings Center Report. 2015;45(3):19-22.   Education. 2021;21(1):66. doi:10.1186/s12909-021-02491-4

doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.446

More GM Ideas
●   Book clubs
●   Journal clubs
●   NLM’s curriculum
●   Trivia nights
●   Bibliotherapy
●   Collaborative GM
    creation in the
    classroom
●   What else?

                       Fies B. Mom's Cancer. New York: Abrams ComicArts; 2008.

Notable Titles

MK Czerwiec, Ian Williams, Susan Merrill Squier, Michael J. Green,
Kimberly R. Myers, Scott T. Smith. Graphic Medicine Manifesto. Penn
State University Press; 2015.

Marchetto MA. Cancer Vixen : A True Story. 1st ed.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf; 2006.

Fies B. Mom's Cancer. New
York: Abrams ComicArts;
2008.

Hamdy S, Nye C, Bao S, et al. Lissa : A Story About
Medical Promise, Friendship, and Revolution.
North York, Ontario, Canada: University of
Toronto Press; 2017.

Bell C, Lasky D, Amulet Books. El Deafo. New York, NY:
Amulet Books; 2014.

Bechdel A. Fun Home : A Family Tragicomic.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin; 2006.

Martini C, Martini O. Bitter Medicine. Calgary:
Freehand Books; 2009.

Leavitt S. Tangles: A Story About
Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me.
Freehand Books; 2010.

More Resources to Explore
●   GraphicMedicine.org
●   ComicNurse.com
●   NLM’s Graphic Medicine Online
    Exhibit
●   CreativeMedDoses.com
●   Alice Jaggers on Graphic Medicine
●   The Nib
●   Cartoonist of Color Database
●   Graphic Medicine Conference
●   Graphic Medicine Facebook Group
●   Library’s Graphic Medicine          Mirk S. COMIC: Grocery Workers Are Essential, And Feeling The Strain. NPR.org. Accessed

    LibGuide
                                        March 1, 2021.
                                        https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/04/825916029/comic-grocery-worke
                                        rs-are-essential-and-feeling-the-strain

References
 1.   Green MJ, Myers KR. Graphic medicine: use of comics in medical education and patient care. BMJ. 2010;340:c863. doi:10.1136/bmj.c863
 2.   Williams ICM. Graphic medicine: comics as medical narrative. Med Humanit. 2012;38:21-27. doi:doi:10.1136/medhum-2011-010093
 3.   Callender B, Obuobi S, Czerwiec MK, Williams I. COVID-19, comics, and the visual culture of contagion. The Lancet. 2020;396(10257):1061-1063.
      doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32084-5
 4.   MK Czerwiec, Ian Williams, Susan Merrill Squier, Michael J. Green, Kimberly R. Myers, Scott T. Smith. Graphic Medicine Manifesto. Penn State University Press; 2015.
 5.   Graphic Medicine: Ill-Conceived & Well-Drawn! | NLM. Accessed March 1, 2021. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/graphicmedicine/index.html
 6.   Kearns C, Kearns N. The role of comics in public health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Vis Commun Med. 2020;43(3):139-149.
      doi:10.1080/17453054.2020.1761248
 7.   Green MJ. Teaching with Comics: A Course for Fourth-Year Medical Students. J Med Humanit. 2013;34(4):471-476. doi:10.1007/s10912-013-9245-5
 8.   Sutherland T, Choi D, Yu C. “Brought to life through imagery” – animated graphic novels to promote empathic, patient-centred care in postgraduate medical
      learners. BMC Medical Education. 2021;21(1):66. doi:10.1186/s12909-021-02491-4
 9.   Masel EK, Adamidis F, Kitta A, et al. Using medical comics to explore challenging everyday topics in medicine: lessons learned from teaching medical humanities.
      Annals of Palliative Medicine. 2020;9(4):1841846-1841846. doi:10.21037/apm-20-261
10.   Mayer RE, Sims VK. For whom is a picture worth a thousand words? Extensions of a dual-coding theory of multimedia learning. Journal of Educational Psychology.
      1994;86(3):389-401. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.butler.edu/10.1037/0022-0663.86.3.389
11.   Al-Jawad M. Comics are Research: Graphic Narratives as a New Way of Seeing Clinical Practice. J Med Humanit. 2015;36(4):369-374.
      doi:10.1007/s10912-013-9205-0
12.   Squier SM. Graphic Medicine in the University. Hastings Center Report. 2015;45(3):19-22. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.446
13.   Delp C, Jones J. Communicating Information to Patients: The Use of Cartoon Illustrations to Improve Comprehension of Instructions. Academic Emergency Medicine.
      1996;3(3):264-270. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1553-2712.1996.tb03431.x
14.   Czerwiec, MK. Getting graphic in medicine: using comics to tell health stories. STAT. Published April 26, 2018. Accessed February 26, 2021.
      https://www.statnews.com/2018/04/26/using-comics-in-medicine/

Sketch Your Own Comic!

“Creating comics also allows students to
expose aspects of the “hidden curriculum” in
medical education while simultaneously
supporting values that matter—such as the
importance of communicating clearly,
working collaboratively, developing creative
solutions to challenging problems, tolerating
and embracing ambiguity, avoiding
preconceptions, and recognizing the shared
humanity between doctors and patients.”
Green MJ. Teaching with Comics: A Course for Fourth-Year Medical Students. J Med Humanit.
2013;34(4):471-476. doi:10.1007/s10912-013-9245-5

Thank you!
Brittany Heer
bheer@butler.edu