Drawn Together: Building Empathy & Compassion through Graphic Medicine

Tuesday, Jun 23, 2026 | 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
RAILS 15th Anniversary Logo

About This Event

Through a structured presentation and a librarian-guided zine-making activity, this two-hour virtual event will engage participants in an exploration of Graphic Medicine as a contemporary field and its focus on the intersection of comics, illness, health, and medicine. The event will examine the diverse ways in which Graphic Medicine can foster empathy and compassion, as well as its applications in self-reflection, education, professional practice, and community building.

 

Event Details

Graphic Medicine has gained national and international attention over the past two decades. The term “graphic medicine” was conceived by Dr. Ian Williams (physician, comic book artist, and founder of GraphicMedicine.org) in 2007. This genre and discipline focuses on person-centered narratives and illustrations, highlighting perspectives in navigating medical diagnoses, illness, treatment, and other aspects of the health care experience.

The RAILS Continuing Education Event Grant will allow us to invite the original curator of [Re]Framing Graphic Medicine: Comics and the History of Medicine, Dr. Brian Callender will give a 45-minute presentation about Graphic Medicine. His talk introduces graphic medicine as a contemporary field and traces the relationship between comics and illness, health, and medicine from the medium’s earliest days. It examines how evolving representations of illness and medical practice reflect and critique broader social and cultural understandings of medicine, and concludes by highlighting the varied uses of contemporary graphic medicine, including self-reflection, education, research, practice, and community engagement.

The event will conclude with a hour-long guided zine-making activity where Claressa Slaughter, Education & Curriculum Librarian at the Boxer Library within Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFUMS), using themes introduced by Dr. Callender. Claressa will use her experience of creating a “Wellbeing Zine” with the students of RFUMS to guide event participants in creating their own small zine, reflecting on topics of health and wellness.

Expected Outcomes

Participants will leave the event specifically with:

  • A clearer understanding of how Graphic Medicine can be used to promote empathy, reflection, and dialogue in academic, health sciences, and public library environments.
  • Increased awareness of the value of Graphic Medicine and strategies for integrating them into programming and outreach.
  • Hands-on experience with zine-making as an accessible pedagogical and wellness tool that can be adapted for various audiences.
  • Strengthened confidence in using visual storytelling to support learning, emotional expression, and community engagement.

Materials

In preparation for this session, please come ready with the following materials for the zine making activity if available to you:

  • Something to write on such as a sheet of paper, preferably 8.5'' x 11'' (Letter Sized).
  • Something to write with such as a pen/pens, pencil/pencils, or marker/markers

This event is made possible through a RAILS CE Event Grant, and is open to all RAILS members.


 

Location(s)

Zoom

See event details.

Videoconference Site
Presenter
Dr. Brian Callender
Physician at UC Medicine

Dr. Brian Callender is an adult hospitalist in the section of Hospital Medicine and an Associate Professor of Medicine. An academic hospitalist, Dr. Callender is interested in how the health humanities can improve the patient experience, provider-patient relationships, and our understanding of the illness experience and the practice of medicine. These interests have led to the development of a number of courses that explore the phenomenology of illness and the visual culture of medicine. His interest in the visual culture of medicine has resulted in the co-curation of several exhibitions at the University Library’s Special Collections Research Center. Dr. Callender is particularly interested in the field of graphic medicine, defined as the intersection of comics, health, and medicine. These interests include teaching graphic medicine courses, using comics in patient education and science communication, conducting workshops on comics-making for patients and providers, and researching the historical and contemporary uses of comics within healthcare. He is a co-editor of the Graphic Medicine Series at the Penn State University Press and was co-chair of the 2022 Graphic Medicine conference held at the University of Chicago.

Presenter
Claressa Slaughter
Education & Curriculum Librarian, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

Claressa joined the Boxer Library in June 2020. She is responsible for leading curriculum design related to identifying and using information to support health sciences education and Evidence Based Practice (EBP) across all RFU academic programs. In addition to her instructional duties, Claressa also provides reference services to the RFUMS community and leads outreach activities around library resources and spaces. She currently co-chairs the Student Library Advisory Committee where she engages in conversations with students for feedback of library resources, services, and spaces. She is also a member of the RFU Student Wellness Committee who organizes the university-wide annual Wellness Weeks. Claressa is a native of California where she obtained her B.A. in English and Creative Writing at San Francisco State University (2014). She completed her Master’s in Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois' iSchool in 2020. Claressa has led numerous hands-on workshops in conjunction with the annual campus-wide Wellness Weeks at Rosalind Franklin University, including the zine-making workshop in 2026.