Surgeon Zhang Bin of Suzhou Municipal Hospital has recently become quite famous, not because of his medical abilities, but because of his expert skill in drawing; Zhang can vividly draw human organs and illustrate specific surgical procedures.

“I am a general surgeon who performs operations every day. Communication with patients is very important before surgery. Compared to verbal communication, patients are often able to understand better by looking at my drawings. For some surgeries, patients cannot even tell all the relevant organs apart, let alone understand the details of the procedure. Many doctors try to illustrate operations so their patients can prepare, but my drawings are more lifelike and comprehensive, so the patients understand better.”

Surprisingly, despite his expert drawing skill, Zhang has never had professional training in art. He developed a keen interest in drawing when he was little, dreaming about becoming a cartoonist. But ever since he started medical school, he rarely had the time for drawing. Then one day in 2014, when his kindergarten-aged son asked Zhang to draw Spiderman, Zhang rediscovered his passion. Especially after he saw how his son admired the drawing, he decided to revisit his old interest and start drawing again.

Once, when Zhang was working a late-night shift, it occurred to him that few medical books illustrate their descriptions of surgery. So he drew several illustrations of a procedure related to gallstones and posted them online. They turned out to be very popular among both doctors and patients.

It usually takes Zhang one to two hours to draw a detailed surgical illustration by hand. Now, with the help of software like Photoshop and Fireworks, Zhang is able to make his drawings more efficiently. Zhang has even been contacted by publishers who hope to enlist his help in producing a collection of medical paintings.