Medical photographers take images for medical purposes in various settings, including hospitals, research facilities, and clinics. They document patient progress, procedures, and specimens, and create records for legal and educational purposes. A degree in photography and science is usually required, and pay varies based on specialty and advancements in the field.
A medical photographer takes images that pertain to the field of medicine. He can work in a hospital, research facility, emergency response organization, medical publishing company or clinic, taking photographs in a wide variety of settings, from the field to the microscope stage. Medical photographers usually have a university degree in photography, which may include a photojournalism or art degree, as well as some science background that allows them to understand the subjects they photograph.
In a hospital, a medical photographer might take photographs of patients that are used to track progress, document subjects in a study, or kept on file in case of legal issues. These images can include photographs of original wounds, progressive conditions such as rashes and surgical procedures. Medical photographers may also work in the pathology laboratory, photographing autopsies, patient specimen specimens, and specimens under the microscope.
Medical laboratories use medical photographers to document their procedures and create records of various procedures, such as photographs of electrophoresis gels or images of bacteria that have been successfully grown from a patient. These images can become part of a permanent record of a patient or study and can also be disseminated in journals and trade publications designed to allow medical professionals to share information.
Medical photographers may also take photos that are used in promotional brochures, patient education materials, and textbooks used by medical and veterinary schools. These images can range from generic photos of patients undergoing treatment to specific photos of specific issues, such as documenting the appearance of different types of yeast infections, so professionals have a visual reference they can use when treating patients.
Also known as biomedical photographers, some medical photographers specialize in taking photographs to create records that are kept for legal purposes. These photographs can be used to document the course of treatment and the conditions under which the treatment took place, should there be a dispute, and patients can also retain photographers to document their conditions so that they can use the images in a legal proceeding. For example, a patient planning to sue a surgeon for placing a bone pin in the wrong place might hire a medical photographer to document the damage caused by improper placement and the surgery required to correct it.
The pay available to a medical photographer varies, depending on where they work and any specialties the photographer may have. A medical photographer can earn better wages by keeping up with advancements in photography and the sciences.
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