Bill’s Professional Background Can Benefit You
As one of the country’s leading Board Certified medical/legal illustrators, Bill Westwood, MS, CMI, is knowledgeable and skilled in the techniques of visual communication. He brings to every case a deep understanding of human anatomy and surgical procedures, acquired through over 40 years of professional experience, working with surgeons, researchers, medical advertising agencies, pharmaceutical companies and leading plaintiff trial attorneys nationally. This experience includes:
- Service with the US Army at the 23rd Medical Illustration Detachment, attached to the Army’s 2nd General Hospital in Landstuhl, West Germany
- Ten years on staff at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, working closely with some of the country’s top surgeons
- Over 30 years of successfully working with attorneys and their medical experts to create clear and accurate demonstratives that provide jurors with visual proof of injury and connects them emotionally to a plaintiff’s pain and suffering.
Understanding is Essential to Effective Communication
Bill’s award-winning anatomical and surgical illustrations have been reproduced in hundreds of medical/surgical journals and numerous textbooks, and his medical-legal illustrations have provided impactful, persuasive demonstrative exhibits that have consistently helped trial attorneys achieve superior outcomes for their clients.
Education and Training
Bill completed his undergraduate studies at Mercer University in Macon GA. Upon graduation with a degree in English Literature and a double minor in Biology and Art, he was accepted into the three-year Medical Illustration graduate program at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) in Augusta, at the time, one of only five such programs in the U.S. and Canada.
His training at MCG encompassed much of the basic sciences coursework of medical school with all courses taken with medical students. These courses included: Human Gross Anatomy, Histology, Neuroanatomy, Surgery, Embryology, Genetics and Pathology. Additional coursework included advanced illustration techniques, visual storytelling, surgical illustration, model making and medical photography.
Experience
Upon graduation from MCG, Bill was offered a position at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, where he created anatomical and surgical illustrations for some of the country’s leading physicians, surgeons and researchers. After a decade at Mayo, he left to start his own medical illustration business, which he now operates out of a studio in Albany, New York.
Board Certification
Bill is Board Certified in Medical Illustration (CMI). Certification is administered by the BCMI (Board of Certification of Medical Illustrators), an independent body that administers the program. Board Certification requires passing a comprehensive exam covering anatomy, surgery and visualization/illustration skills as well as business practices, ethics and a rigorous portfolio review. The examination process is based on standards established the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). Certification must be maintained and renewed every five years through ongoing continuing education courses.
Awards
Bill’s medical artwork has won 38 national awards, including the “Billings Gold Medal” for Scientific Exhibits from the American Medical Association for 3D models and surgical illustrations.” His work has also won six “Max Brödel” first place awards for surgical illustration from the international Association of Medical Illustrators.
Surgical Experience
He is also one of the most experienced surgical illustrators in the medical legal field. Few artists have spent as much time in the operating room as he, working with some of the country’s leading surgeons in a wide range of specialties. Using this firsthand knowledge and his exceptional illustration skills, Bill creates highly accurate, persuasive surgical exhibits providing jurors with convincing visual proof of injury and connecting them emotionally with the incapacitating pain and suffering injured people often endure.
