Memorial med student makes art to assist classmates’ study 

Most people have to pick between being an artist or a doctor. Abdulkarim Elnaas gets the best of both worlds.  

Mr. Elnaas is in his first year of medical school at Memorial University where he uses his art skills to create detailed illustrations of the human anatomy and medical procedures that help him and his classmates study.  

“When I dive into stuff, like for example med school, I can be a little bit obsessive about what I dive into. So I thought ‘let’s try to combine my obsession with something that I’m good at.’”  

He said he’s been interested in art from a very young age, starting with drawings of dinosaurs before moving on to fantasy drawings, inspired by Karl Kopinski and other artists of the tabletop game Warhammer 40,000. His interest in medical school developed after being treated for Hodgkin Lymphoma.  

“I definitely now feel like I’m in the right spot,” he said. “I had to kind of be on the other side of it to really see the value of it.” 

His medical portfolio totals four drawings; two of a heart, one of a procedure and another of an animal bone. Mr. Elnaas said he wants to grow the portfolio, but it can be a long process.  

“I have like the sloppiest process you’ve ever seen,” he admitted with a smile. “I’m almost putting four or five drawings worth of work into one drawing.”  

His classmates have enjoyed the art as well. Mr. Elnaas said fellow student Arista Marthyman is one of his biggest sources of encouragement – getting him to share his work publicly.  

Ms. Marthyman said Mr. Elnaas posted one of his heart drawings on Facebook as the class was in their anatomy unit, saying he hoped it would be useful for study, “and sure enough it was.” She said that it’s helpful to see how others artistically interpret the things they’re studying.  

“He could draw a very exhaustive anatomy primer for all of us, which would be excellent.” 

She also said the art he makes helps to humanize medicine. “It’s interesting, it’s not super common to see illustrations of medical procedures done in a way that is not just looking at the steps.” 

Mr. Elnaas said that while art as a career isn’t something he sees in his future, instead focusing on emergency medicine, he may put his skills to use in his medical degree research project. 

“I’m still in the early stages of that, but definitely whatever I decide to settle on for my research project, I’d like to put a lot of illustrations into the paper, because I feel like that’s kind of an edge I have.”