Medical Illustration

Types of Degrees Medical Illustration Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many medical illustration/medical illustrator graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	41
Master’s Degree	37
Graduate Certificate	2

What Medical Illustration Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, medical illustration/medical illustrator majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Medical Illustration/Medical Illustrator Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in medical illustration/medical illustrator should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Skills for Medical Illustration/Medical Illustrator Majors

A major in medical illustration/medical illustrator prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Abilities for Medical Illustration/Medical Illustrator Majors

A major in medical illustration/medical illustrator will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
• Visualization - The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• Visual Color Discrimination - The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness - The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.

What Can You Do With a Medical Illustration Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with medical illustration/medical illustrator:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators	6.8%	$49,380

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Illustration?

This major is dominated by women with about 71% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of medical illustration/medical illustrator majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	2
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	3
White	29
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	4

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Medical Illustration/Medical Illustrator. About 7.3% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Medical Illustration Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

The median salary for someone in a career related to medical illustration/medical illustrator is $58,370. This median refers to all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Medical Illustration

Some careers associated with medical illustration/medical illustrator require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for medical illustration/medical illustrator careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	27.7%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	0.3%
Some College Courses	37.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	35.6%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.3%

Online Medical Illustration Programs

In 2020-2021, 11 schools offered a medical illustration/medical illustrator program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	1	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	4	0
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Medical Illustration Worth It?

The median salary for a medical illustration/medical illustrator grad is $58,370 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 46% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $369,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Medical Illustration

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to medical illustration/medical illustrator.

Major	Number of Grads
Medical Informatics	2,004
Other Medical Illustration and Informatics	5

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.