MK and I are applying for a grant to upgrade and professionalise the web site. We run it as a labour of love, and, although we have gratefully received sponsorship in the past to cover web hosting and maintenance, it costs us in time and money to keep it going, and we are both increasingly busy with freelance work, which is what keeps a roof over our respective heads. We rely on the good will of guest reviewers and bloggers to contribute without reward, or in exchange for a review copy of a graphic novel, and we would like to remedy this and pay community members for generating copy.
As part of the application we need to demonstrate the importance of the website, so we need your words.
How has Graphic Medicine contributed to your understanding/enjoyment/interest of all things comics and medicine?
Please send one or two quotable lines, ASAP, to ian@graphicmedicine.org
Don’t think too hard, just say what you feel.
Thanks, Ian
The website is a community space where I can see what other professionals are doing in their own specific fields – medical, mental health, advocacy, social sciences, etc.
I get inspired and many of the book recommendations, podcasts, commentaries have inspired me to further my own work. I was recently interviewed for the podcast and it has been a boon to my professional work and the work of my profession (art therapy) and my organization (veterans outreach center).
because of the diversity of people using comics in their work – this is the only place where we can collaborate (besides one time a year at GM conference).
Thank you for that, Roderick! Very helpful.
Hi Ian,
I find it reassuring that some colleagues have a similar way of processing and delivering health topics ! It expands my horizons .I often follow links from the site to learn more, and use some of the reviews to pass on to appropriately selected patients and colleagues.
Thanks for your hard work.
Thanks, Mandy!
Graphic Medicine came into my life when I needed to move beyond a traumatic hospital experience. Writing my own graphic novel as part of a study of Narrative Medicine was cathartic and helped me to reflect on the chaos, get over the anger and confusion and put things in perspective (and laugh.) Keep up the great work!
Thank you, Gillian.
Last year, I had the opportunity to meet Ian Williams and I could find out the astounding work he does at Graphic Medicine when he visited Spain. He joined us on an academic meeting at the university of Zaragoza to enlighten us with his knowledge and support a project on graphic medicine with our students. His web site deserves all the support it needs
Thank you, Maite!
The web site and the people connected to it have become an indispensable resource to me both professionally and personally. I refer folks to graphicmedicine.org when I’m introducing them to the concept of narrative medicine in general and graphic medicine in particular. I often share posts from the site on Twitter, Facebook, and with my students, and it’s my go-to place for looking up new graphic medicine narratives and what’s going on in the field.
Hi, Theresa! Thank you.
Let me know if you need anything else!
Graphic Medicine has created a powerful new medical communication tool that successfully combines humanity and sense of humor. Who wouldn’t want that?
Thank you, Pilar
I am a Narrative Medicine instructor at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, and the Graphic Medicine Web site and book series are indispensable resources for development and enrichment of the curriculum. I refer to it almost daily for graphic novel recommendations and to keep apprised of what is happening in the world of comics and medicine. This site has been instrumental in introducing my students to the medium!
Cheers, Olivia!
GRAPHIC MEDICINE provides a concrete dose of literary healing—to clinicians needing a way to see illness and end-of-life issues in a wholly different way from the reality they face every day in the OR, ER and hospital rooms, as well as to those diagnosed with an illness, who search for ways to process the emotions and fear that come with their new reality. As all of us rely, increasingly, on the internet to provide information, both practical and emotional, sites like GRAPHIC MEDICINE serve both those purposes in a satisfying and sustaining way.
Thank you, Donna.
In the Chair of Professionalism and Clinical Ethics at the University of Zaragoza (Spain) we are developing an innovative teaching project for learning ethics by using comics. GRAPHIC MEDICINE and Ian Williams ‘s contribution has been very important to us. Last year we’ve been fortunate with his participation in a seminar with students and look forward to this continued support. This work has international repercussions that deserves support.
Gracias, Rogelio!
I am a reader. I have no connection whatsoever to medicine or the graphic arts world. Graphic novels have helped me deal with medical conditions of my own and of my family and friends that otherwise might have stopped me in my tracks and made me feel quite alone. Through the website, I have learned of new graphic novels, and I have read and viewed things that informed me and made life more fun. Please keep it going!
Thank you, Becky. Much appreciated.
I am very grateful to Dr Maria Vaccarella for introducing me to Graphic Medicine during my Medical Humanities Masters at Kings College.The website is a fantastic resource for clinicians and medical educators like myself .I have been inspired to develop a motivational ,reflective practice workshop using Graphic Medicine methods to motivate General Practitioners and GP registrars.This has proved very popular in these trying times.
I hope the website continues to flourish and attract the funding it deserves to inspire future initiatives.
(Only sorry to have missed the deadline for the conference.)
As a health services researcher and scholar of health communication, the Graphic Medicine BLOG and book series provides insight into the human element of illness, disease, health, and healing. Graphic Medicine expertly employs sequential art as a multi-modal medium that includes both verbal and visual elements, and this movement has the potential to make intelligible complex experiences that may otherwise be brushed aside as “merely subjective”. The Graphic Medicine website is a key resource to disseminate this important and novel form of scholarship. Thank you for your passion, and please let me know if I can be of further assistance in your funding efforts.
Thanks for this, Christopher. We included it in our collection of testimonials.