Biotech companies generate ever-promising new drugs and treatments while politicians in the US argue over the cost of health care. What to shoot to get your images used in the enormous world of health care education, promotion and advertising? Why should you care? Each year the health care industry spends billions of dollars on adverts for over the counter and direct to consumer ads for services and drugs. Related businesses such as health insurance companies, physical therapists, large health care complexes, labs, cosmetic surgeons and dental offices contribute to the spends for promotion, marketing and education to medical professionals and the patients they serve.
Those who can get access to photograph medical uses of current technology will have valuable images as technology and medicine become more and more intertwined. MRI and ultrasoundequipment first come to mind but there are other areas of medicine that are not in the Dreamstime collection in depth. For example, DT has only one image of a person with a modern leg prosthesis. And unfortunately due to the ongoing troubles in the world, this is a growing aspect of medical rehab.
The computer plays an increasingly important role in diagnostics and in record keeping. Showing doctors and nurses at their stations working on a computer is key to any collection of contemporary medical images.
Models/Locations: use a diverse range of ages and races when showing the medical team. Women now make up 50% of students in medical school. The stereotype of the older white man as the friendly family doctor is giving way to a team ofprofessionals of all ages and specialties. Models should look trust worthy and caring, upbeat but professional. A fully made up glamour model in a hospital bed doesn’t look authentic and won’t be as popular as a more realistic ‘patient’. Keep makeup, hair products and jewelry to a limit on all medical personnel. What to do if you don’t have access to a modern clinic or hospital? Images of home care of sick children and adults can be just as challenging but easier to set up.
Ideas1. If possible to gain access, provide images of medical personnel/patients with the latest equipment and computers in nurses stations, surgeries, dental offices, and in physical therapy. Offer to trade images for access to offices and clinics.
2. Doctors and other medical personnel should impart emotions of trustworthiness and caring.
3. Limit glamour makeup and jewelry for both patients and models
4. Ensure that a health care team represents a range of ages.
5. Make some of your ‘doctors’ female.
6. Surgery shouldn’t be too bloody!
7. Still life images of medical equipment, medicine and illustrations of medical symbols are useful.
8. Illustrations can capture images of cells, viruses and health care symbols and are widely used in informational brochures for patients, in textbooks and ads.
