Nudes and Medical Profession

[Old Man Turtle]

Is it possible to become a competent medical illustrator by only drawing cadavers? Also, some nursing programs use nudes in labs. Is this essential?

 

[Lynden1000]

Is it possible to become a competent medical illustrator by only drawing cadavers? Also, some nursing programs use nudes in labs. Is this essential?

I really don't think I'd want my body poked or prodded by a medical professional who had never seen a live, naked body in the course of his/her training. Especially if they plan to come near me with sharp instruments.

 

[jayem]

I've gone through medical training, and I can assure you that there is a signifcant difference between a cadaver, preserved in formalin, and a living human being. Surgeons only learn to tell the common bile duct from the hepatic artery by assisting in operations on live patients, not by examining preserved specimens. I don't know exactly what training medical illustrators get, but to render the human figure accurately, I'd think you need familiarity with the anatomy of a live person. My niece is majoring in graphic art in college, and even they have sessions with live models. I also don't know what kind of nursing labs use nudes. True medical professionals never require patients to be naked gratuitously. But anyone in the business has to be desensitized to nudity.

 

[moogoob]

It's probably essential. Why wouldn't it be? Any competent illustration schooling will involve the drawing of nudes in some capacity. Even I've drawn nudes before in school, and I do graphic design.

 

[quatona]

Is it possible to become a competent medical illustrator by only drawing cadavers? Also, some nursing programs use nudes in labs. Is this essential?

Do you have a problem with nudity or something?

 

[TheManeki]

Is it possible to become a competent medical illustrator by only drawing cadavers?

Well, it might be tough finding live volunteers willing to show off what's going on underneath their skin. So cadavers sound like better references for organs and the like.

For illustrating the outside of the body, however, it might be more educational to use a live, nude specimen. That way you can observe some of the muscular dynamics that occur during movement.

If you were interested in studying bodies in the peak of health, it would seem easier to work with the living instead of the dead. Finding a perfectly "healthy" cadaver would be like trying to find a good set of tail lights for your car in a junkyard -- possible, but you have to do a lot of searching before you find something that's in good enough shape.

If you're more interested in illustrating the effects of a fatal disease or accident, then cadavers seem the best route.

So what exactly prompted your question?

 

[[serious]]

I would find it difficult to accurately portray the body when not working from a nude. I've not worked with cadavers so I'm not sure how they would be as subjects.

 

[Tesa]

Not sure why you're asking. Nudes in the lab? We've used dolls when I went to nursing school, however, what one encounters in reality is of course nude patients. If one has a problem with that, one shouldn't work in the medical professions.

 

[Old Man Turtle]

Do you have a problem with nudity or something?

A coworker was telling me that his wife's nursing class was going to have male nudes.

 

[JadeTigress]

A coworker was telling me that his wife's nursing class was going to have male nudes.

Why is that a problem?

 

[Lynden1000]

A coworker was telling me that his wife's nursing class was going to have male nudes.

If he has a problem with that, then he's going to have a problem with his wife's entire profession. She's going to see lots of naked bodies, in all sorts of conditions and in all sorts of positions. He might as well get used to it now.

 

[flicka]

My daughter is taking a life drawing class at college now with nude models. Context seems to be everything when it comes to nudity.

 

[Old Man Turtle]

Why is that a problem?

It bothered him. Also, I've spoke to a univeristy prof who said that using nudes in the anatomy lab was vulgar and unnecessary. Let's not get sidetracked. Are nudes necessary in the context I've indicated?

 

[JadeTigress]

It bothered him. Also, I've spoke to a univeristy prof who said that using nudes in the anatomy lab was vulgar and unnecessary. Let's not get sidetracked. Are nudes necessary in the context I've indicated?[/b]

I guess they're not really necessary, but you sure can learn more from them.

Analogy attempt....

Let's say you're going to learn all about cars. Someone then gives you a really crappy car, full of gunk, and everything's broken, and the car doesn't run at all. Sure, you could identify all the parts, but to truly see how everything works, you need a working car.

 

[TheManeki]

For most cases, live nudes are more practical than dead nudes.

Either way, they are still naked. So what's the big deal?

 

[Lynden1000]

It bothered him. Also, I've spoke to a univeristy prof who said that using nudes in the anatomy lab was vulgar and unnecessary. Let's not get sidetracked. Are nudes necessary in the context I've indicated?[/b]

Yes, I think they're necessary. And I think any university professor who thinks it's "vulgar" to show a naked body to someone who is studying for a career in the medical profession is an absolute moron.

Would you want to be a young medical professional's first patient, knowing that up until that point he'd never studied or worked on a real live naked human before? If so, all I can say is better you than me.

 

[MrPirate]

I’m a nurse. Let me weigh in on this

First off I don’t understand the idea of nudes in the classroom. In anatomy it’s pointless, your too busy memorizing the names of muscles and bones and trying to understand how we use our lungs are used to regulate blood pressure.

Nursing instruction really does not take place in the lab. During the two year program I think I spent a total off 5 hours (if that) in the lab. I did however spend 24 hours a week in clinical settings specifically hospitals and nursing homes. Providing direct nursing care. You loose track of the number of butts you see real fast because you literally see thousands. Real nursing instruction takes place on medical floors with real people, real patients.

It is part of the daily job of the nurse to do a skin assessment…that means rolling people over and pulling down underwear (or adult diapers) and taking off socks and looking in groin folds. The point is not the erotic amusement of the nurse. Let me tell you it is a lot of things but it ain’t erotic, rather the point is to check for ulcerations (bed sores) and fungal infections. A bed sore can develop in no time and the heels and sacrum are primary places for them to form.

I see naked people every day, men and women, young and old. I help people dress and undress, I help people bathe, I take people off of toilets and wipe behinds. It is not titillating or even shocking, its just what nurses do and if you are ever in the hospital I hope you appreciate the men and women looking at your buttocks every few hours.

 

[The Princess Bride]

I'm a Medical student (major undecided), however, after having just completed Clinical Assisting, you NEED to have actual bodies to learn from.

One of my jobs is drawing blood, you cant learn from a computer simulation or "fake arm" (dummy board is what I call them).

If you are shocked or offended by what you see,smell, hear, etc abut the medical field, it aint for you. Because there is most definately nothing "interesting" about nude bodies, other than the context to learn more about human health.

Although, as to nudes in the lab, that's kinda odd....

I’m a nurse. Let me weigh in on this

First off I don’t understand the idea of nudes in the classroom. In anatomy it’s pointless, your too busy memorizing the names of muscles and bones and trying to understand how we use our lungs are used to regulate blood pressure.

Nursing instruction really does not take place in the lab. During the two year program I think I spent a total off 5 hours (if that) in the lab. I did however spend 24 hours a week in clinical settings specifically hospitals and nursing homes. Providing direct nursing care. You loose track of the number of butts you see real fast because you literally see thousands. Real nursing instruction takes place on medical floors with real people, real patients.

It is part of the daily job of the nurse to do a skin assessment…that means rolling people over and pulling down underwear (or adult diapers) and taking off socks and looking in groin folds. The point is not the erotic amusement of the nurse. Let me tell you it is a lot of things but it ain’t erotic, rather the point is to check for ulcerations (bed sores) and fungal infections. A bed sore can develop in no time and the heels and sacrum are primary places for them to form.

I see naked people every day, men and women, young and old. I help people dress and undress, I help people bathe, I take people off of toilets and wipe behinds. It is not titillating or even shocking, its just what nurses do and if you are ever in the hospital I hope you appreciate the men and women looking at your buttocks every few hours.

 

[MrPirate]

I'm a Medical student (major undecided), however, after having just completed Clinical Assisting, you NEED to have actual bodies to learn from.

One of my jobs is drawing blood, you cant learn from a computer simulation or "fake arm" (dummy board is what I call them).

If you are shocked or offended by what you see,smell, hear, etc abut the medical field, it aint for you. Because there is most definately nothing "interesting" about nude bodies, other than the context to learn more about human health.

Although, as to nudes in the lab, that's kinda odd....

I agree about the fake arms. There is no way anyone can learn how to set an IV on something like that. You need real people with real veins. We did use our fellow students for our first couple of attempts. I was very popular that day because I have garden hoses for veins.

 

[The Princess Bride]

I agree about the fake arms. There is no way anyone can learn how to set an IV on something like that. You need real people with real veins. We did use our fellow students for our first couple of attempts. I was very popular that day because I have garden hoses for veins.

Yup, same here. I told my fellow students, "If you cant stick ME, forget trying anyone at all!"