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Tag: Graphic Medicine

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Comic books have enjoyed popularity for well over a century, and according to a March 2024 report by the market research firm IBIS World, graphic novels are the most popular product in the $2 billion-a-year comic book publishing sector. 

Within the graphic novel sector is a subgenre known as Graphic Medicine, a term coined in 2007 by Dr. Ian Williams, a cartoonist and the founder of a website of the same name. Graphic Medicine provides comprehensive information about the genre, including reviews of new publications and podcasts. Since 2010, they have also sponsored an annual conference – the 2024 conference just wrapped in Athlone, Ireland.

Graphic medicine is also a subset of the field of narrative medicine, which centers patient narratives in clinical practice, research, and medical education. One practitioner within this field is Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, who completed his medical training, but is now a cartoonist for the New Yorker, and a professor of narrative medicine at Columbia University. You can read an interview with him at the website, Doctors Who Create. You can view some of Schwartz’s work for the New Yorker here.

Some graphic works in Himmelfarb's collection include: Graphic guide to infectious disease, The Infographic guide to medicine, and Clinical Ethics: A Graphic Medicine Casebook.

Did you know you can also search for graphic medicine in PubMed? A search of the medical subject heading, “Graphic Novels as Topic” will help you find both comics published within journals, as well as articles which, for example, examine the impact of comics on public health.

Himmelfarb’s Reference and Instruction Librarian Rebecca Kyser, herself a cartoonist, suggests the following titles to help you delve into the world of graphic medicine:

Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos, by Lucy Knisley (available to borrow through our local consortium) follows the cartoonist as she goes through the process of trying to become pregnant, being pregnant, and her birth experience. As she chronicles her own experiences with miscarriage, morning sickness, and preeclampsia, Knisley also explores the history of pregnancy, women’s health, myths and superstitions around miscarriage and pregnancy, and the decisions that factor into the choice to have kids in the first place. Entertaining, emotional, and well-researched, this is a great book for anyone, regardless if they plan to have kids, have kids, or never intend to have kids at all.

The Nib (website): The Nib used to be a magazine publisher of anthology comics, usually all revolving around a specific issue, as well as daily comics. While the magazine stopped publishing last year, the entire site is still live for those who wish to buy back issues or view any of the older strips, which sometimes feature medical themes. There’s plenty to check out such as a comic regarding the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the Navajo Nation, living with OCD during Covid-19, and the high maternal mortality Black women face.

Comics for Choice, Second Edition  (anthology, currently on New Books Shelf) Published after 2021, this anthology takes a look at the history of abortion in the United States from a range of perspectives. From personal stories about their own abortions to narratives about those who sought to provide access even when the procedure was entirely illegal, this collection showcases the multiple ways reproductive choice and access impact everyone.

Memento Mori by Tiitu Takalo (coming soon to DC Public Library). Takalo, a cartoonist from Finland, tackles her own experience dealing with a cerebral hemorrhage with honesty and a dynamic drawing style. Using color to reflect her own emotions, Takalo takes us through her frightening medical emergency, the monotony of the hospital, and her struggle to access proper health care upon her release. It’s an engaging story bringing to light the reality of an experience most people rarely face themselves

Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green (available at DC Public Library). Mental health conditions can be hard to understand, especially given that the symptoms are often internal. By using comics as her medium of choice, Green gives physicality to her own battle with an eating disorder in her teens and college years. Black scribbles follow her from page to page, growing more busy and large as her anorexia worsens. Later, a mouth on her stomach grows and grows as she struggles against the urge to binge food. It’s a difficult read at times – as it should be given what Green was facing – but it explores her own battle with empathy and thoughtfulness.

For a break from studying, or for a way to see the health professions from a different perspective, dive into some graphic medicine!

References

Comic book publishing in the US - market size, industry analysis, trends and forecasts (2024-2029): IBISWorld. IBISWorld Industry Reports. (March 2024). https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-research-reports/comic-book-publishing-industry/#IndustryStatisticsAndTrends Accessed 7/23/2024

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Staying at home for a month sounds easy. But in real life, it is a very hard thing to do.
By Weimankow, 6 April 2020

As Dr. James Griffiths noted in his recent Grand Rounds presentation, trauma shifts how the brain processes information, and we lose our capacities to reflect and to relate and to maintain our sense of identity. When faced with the fear and uncertainty of a medical illness - or a global pandemic - we lose our ability to concentrate. We cannot sit still to read the books we once loved. We pick up our pens and put them down again. Each time we try to explain what we are going through, it seems like we aren’t being clear enough, like there is no language adequate to encapsulate our experiences. Patients, family members, health care providers, we are, each of us and in our own ways, experiencing these strange times. Providers on the front lines - to whom we extend our sincere gratitude - may not be able to separate themselves from their work. Others of us, working from home for over a month now, may have established a schedule, but we still cannot bring ourselves to concentrate on the novel on our bedside table.

In our virtual meetings and phone calls, there is a tacit understanding that these are not normal times. Where do we start the conversations we need, and do not necessarily want, to have? How can we express ourselves and find the connections necessary to cope?

 

Graphic medicine comic creators often grapple with these and other questions. How does one illustrate both the events and the emotions of coping with the pain, fear, and hope that accompany medical crises?

Because so much about what's going to happen next is uncertain, everyone will be caught in a whirlwind of emotions
By Weimankow, 6 April 2020

The New England Graphic Medicine conference was among the many that moved online this spring. The organizers added a COVID-19 comics panel discussion to the agenda. In this discussion, presenter Alice Jaggers described how the comics appearing - online, on social media channels, and via other platforms - provide a sampling of how graphic medicine is used [see: https://www.graphicmedicine.org/covid-19-comics/].  While no comic fits neatly into a single category, they can be generally divided by a main tone or aim. Some provide educational information about diseases and treatment or various medical conditions and can thereby improve health literacy. They can provide historical information or context. Others address difficult ethical questions such as triage or end-of life care. Patients and providers alike draw comics as an outlet for expression, taking the time to reflect and cope during difficult times. These comics can be heartwarming and hopeful, or they can achieve the ironic synergy of humor and sadness unique to the comic medium.

I am not surprised that I find myself turning to COVID-19 comics. Comics “provide companionship through shared experience” (Williams, 2012). When we are socially distancing, physically isolated, reading a comic strip that encapsulates the quarantine experience can make us laugh, make us cry, and remind us that we are not alone (Myers & Goldenberg, 2018).

 

Let's remember to wash our hands frequently and thoroughly, so we can stay safe from virus infections together!
By Weimankow

Even when we cannot focus, especially when we cannot or do not want to focus, this rich medium, with all its layers, accomplishes through the synergy of drawing, words, and dialogue, that feat of connecting us. The space between the comic panes allows us to pause and process as we encounter traumatic events and difficult emotions on the page or screen (Williams, 2012).

Graphic medicine has been accepted and embraced by long-standing institutions and publishers. The Annals Graphic Medicine Channel includes comic strips that bring to the surface struggles healthcare professionals face. In comic format, these stories are human, relatable, and non-threatening. Since 2016, JAMA has issued an annual “Best Of” list for graphic medicine. (remember to access JAMA via the Himmelfarb Library’s website; check out their medical humanities section for articles about graphic medicine and more).

A search for “Graphic medicine” in PubMed returns 155 results, with most appearing within the last 5 years. Recognizing the growth in this area, two MeSH terms were added: in 2016, Graphic Novel as a publication type was introduced and, in 2018, “Graphic Novels as Topic” with the entry term “Graphic Medicine as Topic” was added. This is defined as “Works about book-length narratives told using a combination of words and sequential art, often presented in comic book style.” Graphic medicine is a diverse and growing field, with, as described, a broadly inclusive definition. Graphic medicine is at the intersection of the already blurry spheres of health and medicine and comic style. Graphic medicine can come in the form of an Instagram post or a strip on the Annals Graphic Medicine channel or a 200-page graphic novel. The topics range from anxiety to spanish flu (both pertinent to these times). The perspective may be that of the patient or provider or the family members and friends of those affected.

The National Library of Medicine collects graphic medicine materials for several reasons, including to “record progress in [medical] research, especially from the perspective of the patient patient”, contribute to medical education, describe “policies that affect the delivery of health services” in a straightforward manner, and depict “the public’s perception of medical practice” (Tuohy & Eannarino, 2018) As they go on to state, the perspectives and stories found in graphic medicine are unique from those found in technical and research literature.

According to Dr. Griffiths, to be resilient, we must step into adversity. We can use graphic medicine to reflect, cope, and connect and to ultimately help us step into adversity.

References:

Myers, K. R., & Goldenberg, M. D. F. (2018). Graphic Pathographies and the Ethical Practice of Person-Centered Medicine. AMA Journal of Ethics, 20(2), 158–166. https://doi.org/10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.2.medu2-1802.

Tuohy, P., & Eannarino, J. (2018). Reading graphic medicine at the National Library of Medicine. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 106(3), 387–390. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2018.449

Williams, I. C. M. (2012). Graphic medicine: comics as medical narrative. Medical Humanities, 38(1), 21–27. https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2011-010093

Image source: https://www.comicsforgood.com/about
"All comics in the infocomic series about COVID19 are free to use for educational purposes with credit. If you would like to support me through donations, it would be greatly appreciated."
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