smcgaughey

Here’s a quick set of pictograms I did for an app a team...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:11:34 -0500

Here’s a quick set of pictograms I did for an app a team of us are submitting for a competition. The app deals with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and pesticide safety in agricultural areas. We didn’t have enough time for our app developer to code it but we’re throwing together an animated mockup.

Wash U! So my girlfriend and I are heading to Washington...

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:13:19 -0500

Wash U!

So my girlfriend and I are heading to Washington University in St. Louis for pediatrics and neurology. We’re excited to call St. Louis home soon.

For some reason I can never remember what ferritin does. So to...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:13:00 -0600

For some reason I can never remember what ferritin does. So to remind myself that ferritin binds iron and releases in a controlled fashion I made a Ferret pumping iron. I could’ve easily memorized this instead of spending hours making this icon…oh well.

Brain Part of a larger project that I need to finish up. In the...

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 18:16:45 -0600

Brain

Part of a larger project that I need to finish up. In the meantime I thought I’d post this.

Crafting Letters Just doodling around with lettering.

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:49:47 -0600

Crafting Letters

Just doodling around with lettering.

Something a Little Different After letting my Wacom tablet...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 23:17:00 -0600

Something a Little Different

After letting my Wacom tablet collect dust for the last several months, tonight I finally decided to start drawing agin.

I’ve been following Shane Burcaw of LAMN for a little while and I wanted to make a small tribute piece. Shane is a 20 year old with SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) who has a wonderfully lighthearted outlook on life. He also happens to be an active member in the muscular dystrophy world. He just launched his nonprofit laughingatmynightmare and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Though I don’t know Shane personally, he reminds me of the many wonderful patients and families I had the pleasure of seeing as part of my neuromuscular fellowship last year.

So here’s a drawing I put together tonight of Shane looking tough in a pretend cape—something I wouldn’t be surprised to see him post on his own tumblr site.

Shine Brighter. I’m not one for inspirational text prints...

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 08:49:00 -0600

Shine Brighter.

I’m not one for inspirational text prints but I thought I’d post a little re-do of one of my more popular pieces (Gemfibrozil).

I’m sure most of us have experienced the painful sensation...

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 16:52:00 -0600

I’m sure most of us have experienced the painful sensation in our ears when flying, but why do our ears hurt and why do you feel them pop?

It all boils down to unequal pressure between our external auditory canal (arrow) and middle ear (#2)—and the membrane that is caught in the middle—the tympanic membrane or eardrum (#1).

Rapid changes in altitude change the pressure the outside of the eardrum, but the middle ear doesn’t respond as quickly. The eardrum is a highly innervated (by cranial nerves V, IX, X) and thus is highly sensitive membrane. Differences in pressure cause the membrane to distort either in or out and subsequently cause pain.

So what about the popping sensation? The middle ear is connected to the nasopharynx (#4) (i.e. the back of the nose/upper throat) by the eustachian tube (#3). This tube is usually closed—however when we swallow it opens briefly which allows the pressure to equalize and your hear and sense the pressure dropping in your middle ear.

New Project

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 16:47:33 -0600

I’ve been quite absent on tumblr since I’ve been running around the country interviewing. Since I’m now done with boards (at least until step 3) I thought I’d start up a new project to kick start my drawing again. Though I know many of your are medical students, I wanted to focus on a project explaining more mundane medical phenomena. Perhaps once a week I’ll try to post a small drawing and explanation of a simple medical problem or condition. I’ve always been interested in medical education, especially how medical professionals educate patients. Since my one year research year in focusing on neuromuscular diseases, I’ve thought a good deal about how to best represent complex medical ideas. Hopefully this project will get me thinking more about this concept.

Hi Steve, First of all, your art work is great. I really wanted access to that lipoprotein graphic that you did; the gastric subway is very useful of course. I'd really like high-resolution versions of these and the rest of your work if you are interested to monetize them or share in anyother way. I hope you'll nourish and nurture your talents further in life and share them with the world. Thanks.

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 08:22:55 -0600

Thanks! Shoot me an email and we can chat. I can’t post links in tumblr mail but you can head over to my website—my email is listed there in the about section.

Help Wanted!

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 17:25:01 -0600

Sorry I’ve been MIA but I’ve been wrapped up in some projects. One of the really exciting project is working with a medical boards review book series to oversee a revamp of their medical illustrations. I’m trying to find individuals who are interested in medicine and illustration. Preferrably I’m looking for medical students with an eye for design, or medical illustrator students with a strong science background. If you know anyone I’d love to talk with them further.

Hope to hear from you.

I usually don’t post work in progress here but I liked...

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:46:31 -0500

I usually don’t post work in progress here but I liked this one enough to call it a piece. I’ve been wanting to draw an anatomic heart in the same vein (no pun intended) as my gastric subway piece. We’ll see where this one goes.

I’ve been working in the NICU (neonatal intensive care...

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 11:21:39 -0500

I’ve been working in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) which is part of my excuse for not posting more often. However, in the NICU, I’ve seen a couple resuscitations of premature infants who weight less than a pound and I was amazed at the sight. Unlike chest compressions for adults or even children, in neonates only a thumb is required to move blood flow during compressions. The NICU has been an amazing experience for many reasons but witnessing a full resuscitation on such fragile beings is truly amazing. This is my tiny tribute to those tiny babies and neonatologists’ efforts to keep them alive.

How do you do your artwork? its amazing. You have so much talent! Thanks for sharing.

Sun, 02 Sep 2012 12:11:52 -0500

one day I’ll post a small little process sketch of how I get my ideas finalized. Basically it starts with sketches on tons of notecards (my sketchbook of sorts) then I break out adobe illustrator and begin putting together geometric shapes to rough out an idea. Then the hardest part for me is picking a color palate. That’s usually just a trial an error process or exporting into photoshop.

#51 D-List Actors: Wilm, Ewing, and Milo D-actinomycin...

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 20:56:48 -0500

#51 D-List Actors: Wilm, Ewing, and Milo

D-actinomycin (D-actors) is used to treat Wilm’s tumors and Ewings sarcoma. Side effects include myelosuppresion (Milo).

#50 FU my Sun! 5-FU is a pyrimidine analog used to treat colon...

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 22:35:33 -0500

#50 FU my Sun!

5-FU is a pyrimidine analog used to treat colon and basal cell cancers. Side effects include photosensitivity and myelosuppression. Treat OD with thymidine.

No pictogram today, instead I’m putting up a little work...

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 22:26:43 -0500

No pictogram today, instead I’m putting up a little work in progress piece. It’s my followup to the gastric subway.

#49 PSC And UC Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel...

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 23:45:30 -0500

#49 PSC And UC

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease characterized by ulcerations limited to the mucosa/submucosa yet always involving the rectum. Lesions are in a continuous fashion. It is associated with primary sclerosing cholangitis which is an idiopathic disorder characterized by inflammation, fibrosis, and strictures of the extra/intrahepatic bile ducts. Symptoms and signs include jaundice, pruritus, and fatigue. Alk phos and bilirubin is increased and multiple bile duct strictures with dilatations are seen with ERCP. Patients with UC have a markedly increased risk of colorectal cancer and patients with PSC have an increased rate of cholangocarcinoma.

#48 Anemia Microcytic anemia is caused but iron deficiency and...

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 22:36:52 -0500

#48 Anemia

Microcytic anemia is caused but iron deficiency and lead poisoning. B12 and folate (B9) cause megaloblastic macrocytic anemias.

Hi! I'm currently studying for my Step 1 and came across your tumblr. WoW! Your gastric subway is awesome. Thanks for posting it. may i ask for your permission, if i can share it with my friends in our FB step 1 group (and mentioning you :) ) thanks!

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 08:54:22 -0500

Thanks. Of course you can share it. Best of luck with step 1.