What to give a doctor: an art gift chosen by speciality
I’m William San, and I paint Medsan in Orléans, France. Here is how to choose a work for a doctor or a medical student, by speciality and by occasion.
Medsan began with a remark. I was passionate about medicine, and the person I was with at the time, a medical student, could not find a single anatomical painting she thought beautiful. I put my work out on Instagram and it took off; I have not stopped since. Each work is about one organ and one specific condition, from ectopic heartbeats to endometriosis, in a Japanese mood of koi and Hokusai’s waves, kintsugi and Imari porcelain. A doctor recognises their own field at a glance, and that is what makes these works good gifts.
The safest starting point is the speciality. A cardiologist has five works to choose from, an ophthalmologist three, a spinal surgeon six; the guide by speciality is below. Then comes the occasion. In France it is the thesis defence; in Britain, graduation and the first post as an F1 doctor. The date is fixed, so order as soon as you know it. For a new practice, the work will face patients, and I would suggest a calm image such as Corallium or Aqua Mentis. For a retirement the gift is often collective: split twenty ways, an original comes to €130 each.
Price depends on size, not on the image. A signed, numbered art print, limited to 20 copies per size, costs €300 in 40 × 40 cm and €450 in 60 × 60 cm; Ayame’s Spine and Dragonomy, both portrait format, come in 40 × 60 cm at €400. A black floater frame adds €80 in 40 × 40 and 40 × 60 cm, and the work arrives ready to hang. The originals are four oils on canvas, 80 × 80 cm, one-off pieces at €2,600 with a certificate of authenticity. A work in stock ships within five working days, to mainland France and Europe.
By specialty
Cardiology, cardiac surgery
Five works are about the heart, each about one precise situation: ectopic beats in Cor Vitreum, infarction in Heart Attack, transplantation in Nidus Cordis, takotsubo in Chou’s Spine. For a cardiac surgeon, Systolic Sea is an original I paint to order.
Emergency medicine, intensive care
Heart Attack shows the very moment of an infarction, the one emergency doctors see arrive without warning. For an intensive care team, Nidus Cordis is about organ donation and the family who, somewhere, said yes.
Neurology, neurosurgery, geriatric medicine
A neurologist can choose between Imari Cortex, on stroke and plasticity, and Carpal Spine, an original about multiple sclerosis. For geriatric medicine or a memory clinic, Alzheimer Brain deals with Alzheimer’s disease without showing a patient or a hospital.
Psychiatry, psychology
Aqua Mentis is about anxiety and the calm that returns, Ayame’s Spine about bipolar disorder. For a psychologist who sees teenagers, Puzzle Therapeutic; for a child psychiatrist, Peek a Look and autism.
Ophthalmology, orthoptics
Koi Look turns floaters into koi; it is the work I suggest first, as a print or as the original. For a surgeon, Oculus Maris is about sight returning once the lens is replaced.
Orthopaedics, rheumatology, spinal surgery
Six works revolve around the spine and the bones. A spinal surgeon will look at Bonsai Vertebra and its scoliosis, a rheumatologist at Aurum Femina and osteoporosis; Carpal Spine, the original, suits a gift from a whole department.
Physiotherapy, osteopathy
Bonsai Vertebra began with a sentence I heard in a physiotherapy practice, and Carpe Diem tells of a physiotherapist with back pain of her own. For an osteopath, Carpe Diem and its two carp circling the lumbar spine.
Dentistry, orthodontics, maxillofacial surgery
Two works: Occlusal Wave, a molar in the wave, for bruxism, and Hokusai’s Jaw, a jaw caught in Hokusai’s waves. An orthodontist will spot occlusion in the title of the first.
Speech and language therapy
Hokusai’s Jaw is about aphasia after a stroke, and Imari Cortex about a man who learnt to say his wife’s name again. For a therapist who works with children, Peek a Look.
Respiratory medicine
Corallium, two lungs grown into corals, is the respiratory physician’s work. It is also one of the brightest in Medsan, and it sits well in a waiting room.
Nephrology, transplantation
Kidneyugi is about kidney transplantation and the years of dialysis that often come before it. For a heart transplant team, Nidus Cordis.
Endocrinology, diabetes
Thyroid Butterfly for the thyroid and Graves’ disease, Pancreas Koi for type 1 diabetes. Hung side by side, they cover both halves of the job.
Gynaecology, midwifery
Orchis Sacra shows orchids growing out of a pelvis, and is about endometriosis. It is a gift for a gynaecologist or a midwife, and a gentle enough image for a waiting room.
Haematology, oncology
The Girl Spine is about leukaemia, through a young woman with blue roses. It is a serious work, and I would suggest it for someone who chose this field knowing how heavy it can be.
Medical student, junior doctor
For a medical student or a junior doctor, a 40 × 40 cm print costs €300, or €380 in its black floater frame. Start from the speciality they are aiming for; if they are still undecided, Dragonomy and Codex Camellia are about anatomy itself.
General practice
A GP sees every organ come through the door. Dragonomy, which gathers the whole body into a single dragon, is made for them; Corallium and Carpe Diem are about what they treat every week, asthma and back pain.
Your questions
What is a good graduation gift for a new doctor?
A work about the speciality they are heading for: a heart for a future cardiologist, a spine for a future rheumatologist. The date of a graduation or a thesis defence does not move, so order as soon as you know it. A work in stock ships within five working days.
What can I give a medical student on a budget?
A 40 × 40 cm signed, numbered art print costs €300, or €380 in its black floater frame. Start from the organ they love or the speciality they want. Split between six friends from the same year, it comes to €50 each.
What can a department give a doctor who is leaving?
For a whole department, an 80 × 80 cm original at €2,600 is a one-off piece, signed, with its certificate of authenticity; between twenty colleagues, that is €130 each. For a smaller group, a 60 × 60 cm print at €450 reads from across a room, in an office or on a ward corridor.
Does the painting come framed?
The 40 × 40 and 40 × 60 cm sizes can be ordered in a black floater frame for an extra €80: the work floats inside a matte black frame, with no glass, and arrives ready to hang. The 60 × 60 cm size comes unframed.
Will it arrive in time?
A work in stock ships within five working days, to mainland France and Europe. Systolic Sea is painted to order, and its lead time is confirmed by email. If your date is close, write to me before ordering and I will tell you whether it can be done.
Should I give an original or a print?
An original is the only one in existence: an 80 × 80 cm oil on canvas, signed, at €2,600, with a certificate of authenticity. A print belongs to an edition of 20 per size, each copy signed and numbered by hand, from €300. Medsan prints are not posters: once the twentieth copy of a size is sold, there are no more.