Life Sciences and Pre-Medical Illustration

The Life Sciences and Pre-Medical Illustration degree program offers a multifaceted learning experience that takes you outside the walls of KCAD and across traditional subject matter boundaries.

At KCAD, you’ll expand your creative capabilities through courses in illustration, graphic design, animation, and storyboarding, mastering a diverse range of techniques, approaches, and technologies. At the same time, you’ll learn how to use your creativity to craft visual, oral, and written communications that engage and inform.

You’ll also round your education out with a wide range of general education and art history courses that will stimulate your curiosity, broaden your perspective, and inspire new creative expressions. KCAD’s flexible General Education Pathways model empowers you to direct your learning by exploring subjects you find most engaging and relevant.

At Ferris State University Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Community College, you’ll take biology, cellular biology, pathophysiology, and medical terminology courses to expand your understanding of the human body and the language used to describe it.

At Michigan State University’s Grand Rapids-based College of Human Medicine, you’ll be immersed in histology and gross anatomy classes alongside students preparing for other careers in health care. You’ll also have access to the MSU College of Human Medicine’s cadaver lab and extensive library.

Life Sciences and Pre-Medical Illustration is all about communicating complex ideas to specific audiences. Through an emphasis on research, accessibility, and accurate representation, you’ll develop the skills to effectively transform complicated scientific information into user-friendly visuals that inform and inspire. 

While earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Life Sciences and Pre-Medical Illustration, you’ll also develop the skills you need to succeed professionally in the field, from navigating production roles and pipeline to managing team projects to staying on top of copyright issues and best practices for working with clients.

Housed within a conservatory college of art and design and connected to some of the region’s premiere centers of scientific research and education, the Life Sciences and Pre-Medical Illustration program puts a wealth of expertise and resources right at your fingertips.

Whether you’re at KCAD or nearby at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Ferris State University Grand Rapids, or Grand Rapids Community College, you’ll never be far from knowledgeable faculty, state-of-the-art facilities, and a supportive creative community that will keep you motivated and moving forward.

As a graduate of the Life Sciences and Pre-Medical Illustration degree program, you’ll be ready to continue your education at the graduate level or pursue work as a life sciences illustrator.  

Alumni are working as freelance medical illustrators, animators, and digital 3D modelers; some are holding positions in medical legal illustration and animation and patient data segmentation for 3D printing; and others have branched out into storybook illustration and UI/UX design.

As a Life Sciences and Pre-Medical Illustration student, you’ll have the opportunity to plug into the close-knit creative community of the KCAD Illustration Society, a student organization that nurtures collaborative potential and facilitates a powerful exchange of ideas among artists working in a variety of different styles and spheres.

At the MSU College of Human Medicine, you’ll have access (while registered in classes there and by special permission) to the college’s Cadaver Lab and Library.

On the KCAD campus, you’ll learn and experiment in spacious classrooms with extensive studio equipment, including a program-specific computer lab. Elsewhere on campus, you’ll have access to The Dow Center FlexLab, KCAD’s state-of-the-art digital fabrication facility featuring 3D printers and scanners, laser cutting and vinyl cutting machines, wide format printers, and more; and the KCAD Library, which provides access to millions of books through the MelCat shared library catalog as well as access to specialized research databases and subscriptions to scholarly journals.

KCAD also offers a number of summer travel/study experiences as well as internships during the academic year and the summer. You’ll have the opportunity to pursue work in a variety of settings, such as professional studios, museums, and community arts organizations, to name a few.