MEDICINE AND THE ARTS
The Interplay Between Art and Surgical Skills figure 4 by BAHAALDIN ALSOUFI , MD
There are several similarities between art and surgery . Both fields require important skills that seem to be visually related . Artists and surgeons alike need fine motor control to complete their projects , though the tools are obviously different , using a scalpel versus a paintbrush for example . While these skills improve with practice , natural gifts remain important to distinguish oneself in both domains . Both artists and surgeons develop intense spatial awareness and understanding of forms and shapes that are important keys in their work , be it a complex surgical reconstruction or sculpture making . Additionally , art and surgery both demand excellent observational skills to identify elements in respective fields and translate these elements to the desired end-products .
Throughout the history of medicine , many features of art and surgery were naturally connected . Early examples of surgical procedures can be seen recorded in old art manuscripts , with many examples coming from ancient Egypt , China , India and medieval Europe . As the practice of surgery evolved , artists became fascinated with important historical medical events and made them the subject of their art schemes with examples that include paintings of the operative theaters of famous surgeons such as Billroth , Gross , Murray , among others . Moreover , artists were the first to demonstrate human anatomy with early work coming from innovators such as Leonardo da Vinci who described anatomy of body parts in astonishing details . It is not surprising that the earliest published anatomical text De Humani Corporis Fabrica was actually illustrated by a Flemish physician / artist named Versalius in 1543 . The subsequent most popular examples of anatomical art books were by large produced by surgeons / artists such as the anatomical art book by John Bell , a famous Scottish surgeon in 1825 , Gray ’ s Anatomy ( illustrated by Henry Carter , a surgeon ) in 1858 , and more recently , the 1989 edition of Netter ’ s Atlas of Human Anatomy , illustrated by Frank Netter , a physician who started but didn ’ t complete surgical training , ( though it assembled his previous paintings from the prior four decades ). Most importantly , modern surgeons utilized artists to demonstrate important steps of operations , leading to the development of the field of medical illustration . Max Brödel , a talented artist from Leipzig , was recruited to Johns Hopkins to illustrate for the pioneering surgeons there in the late 1890s . This has led to establishment of medical illustration as a profession . Interestingly , there were some surgeons / artists who illustrated their own work , for example Harvey Cushing , an innovator and pioneer of neurosurgery , who was also a talented artist .
Other similarities between the fields of art and surgery include creativity that is essential for any innovative progress , and the mentorship learning model where the mentees learn from the masters , and eventually modify , apply and improve , with many of them surpassing their teachers and contributing to the evolution of their field .
6 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE