During the past few years, the need for effective visual communication of science and medicine has remained as strong as ever. To see examples of the biomedical visuals related to COVID-19 that were produced by AAM faculty and production staff, take a look at the AAM COVID-19 Visualization News page.
The MBI graduate program, working in close collaboration with university administration and implementing stringent safety protocols and best practices, will continue to admit and educate graduate students during this time. Our program and the University are responsive to conditions in our area. We are following a fully in-person learning environment. Although the ongoing pandemic occasionally has forced us to change the way we conduct some of our courses (ppe, distancing, reduced density), this challenge has helped us to implement new ideas (recorded lectures) and discover novel ways to offer our students the unique exposure and opportunities that are a hallmark of the MBI graduate program.
For applicants preparing for admission, your health and safety is paramount. We encourage you to follow CDC and WHO guidelines and best practices.
Prerequisite Sciences
We encourage applicants to seek-out challenging, high-level science courses to fulfill the science prerequisites and to prepare for the graduate level sciences taken during the MBI program. During this time, the availability of dissection labs in vertebrate anatomy courses may be limited or not available. Investigate your options and pursue a vertebrate anatomy course with a challenging curriculum. Contact us if you have concerns about your course options.
Art Instruction
To have a competitive admissions portfolio, it is crucial that applicants work from direct observation as much as possible and avoid working exclusively from photos and video. Illustrating 3D objects solely from 2D screens or images can lead to skewed and flattened perspective and proportions. That said, access to life drawing courses and open studios may be limited. We recommend you seek safe alternatives investigating options to draw from life as much as possible. If necessary, ask friends and family to pose for you, then share your work with your art instructors for critique. Critique and feedback on your work from an appropriate mentor is critical to developing the ability to self-critique and further honing your artistic skills.
Disruptions in Studies
The Admissions Committee recognizes that the outbreak of COVID-19 has caused significant personal and academic challenges for many applicants, including unplanned relocation, significant changes to coursework, unusual enrollment patterns and grading policies. The Committee will take this into consideration when reviewing applicant submissions, particularly from the spring 2020 semester.
Virtual Interview Process
After submission of portfolios, the faculty on the Admissions Committee will invite select applicants to interview and complete the School of Medicine Application (letters of recommendation, statement of interest in the program, transcripts, etc.). All interviews for admissions are held virtually via web chat (Zoom).
Thank you for your interest in the Medical and Biological Illustration graduate program.
More posts on the Admissions Blog.