Spotlight on Graphic Medicine

Looking for a different approach to communicating about difficult topics with patients, families and caregivers? Graphic medicine books can help bridge the gap and offer a new way to connect. The Upstate Health Sciences Library has over 150 graphic medicine books in its collection, including both print and eBook versions.

If you're looking for a place to start, try one of these titles:

If you're interested in gleaning some insights directly from the authors, Penn State University Press has released a video of their virtual panel discussion together.

Penn State University Press has published these books as part of a graphic medicine series:

"Books in the Graphic Medicine series are inspired by a growing awareness of the value of comincs as an important resource for communicating about a range of issues broadly termed "medical." For healthcare practitioners, patients, families, and caregivers dealing with illness and disability, graphic narrative enlightens complicated or difficult experiences. For scholars in literary, cultural, and comics studies, the genre articulates a complex and powerful analysis of illness, medicine, and disability and a rethinking of the boundaries of "health." The series includes original comics from artists and non-artists alike, such as self-reflective "graphic pathographies" or comics used in medical training and education, as well as monographic studies and edited collections from scholars, practitioners, and medical educators."

-Abby Hershler, Lesley Hughes, Patricia Nguyen, & Shelley Wall. (2012). Looking at Trauma: A Tool Kit for Clinicians. Penn State University Press.

To learn more about graphic medicine and explore some of the topics and themes covered by Upstate's collection, check out the library's Graphic Medicine guide.