1:15 – 2:15 pm
1 CEU Hr: Art
Not a Horror Show – The Power of Non-gory Medical-legal Visuals
Gruesome. Disturbing. Provocative. Gory. Too often these words come to mind when viewing a graphic medical-legal visual that portrays trauma or surgical concepts. Images that trigger these reactions can besmirch the important role most demonstrative evidence plays: i.e., to clarify complex issues so justice is served. Less “sensationalized” demonstrative evidence can be more effective than gruesome depictions, be better received by jurors, be more readily understood, and be more admissible at trial. This talk will explore the communication value of persuasive litigation visuals that are geared to elucidate medical and technical issues, examining them through the lens of: educational theories; cognitive perception; visual cues; design principles; learning styles; and other factors that speak to the integrity of effective demonstrative evidence.
Session Takeaways:
1. Be able to analyze demonstrative evidence for its didactic qualities and benefits
2. Understand how to apply learning theories, design factors, and other visual research theories to improve medical-legal communications
3. Appreciate various “utilitarian” factors that medical-legal illustrators integrate into their work to maximize clarity and understanding in their visual storytelling
4. Understand considerations that make demonstrative evidence more admissible at trial
Stephen R. Mader, BSC, BSCAAM, MSCBMC, CMI, FAMI
President Artery Studios Inc.
Stephen R. Mader, BSC, BSCAAM, MSCBMC, CMI, FAMI, is a Certified Medical Illustrator and is the President of Artery Studios Inc, a biomedical visualization company that specializes in creating demonstrative evidence (medical illustrations, animations, interactive media and 3D-models) for litigation purposes. As well as undergraduate degrees in biology (BSc) and medical illustration (BScAAM), he holds a Master of Science in Biomedical Communications (MScBMC) from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is a Course Lecturer on “Sequential Medical Communication – Demonstrative evidence for the courtroom.” He has worked on thousands of personal injury cases, has contributed illustrations to numerous publications including Grant’s Atlas of Anatomy, and has presented and written extensively on medical illustration, visuals for courtroom use, and visual-based learning.