Academics and students gathered at the Faculty of Pharmacy to explore graphic medicine, a discipline combining visual arts and clinical communication.
The seminar, titled “Entre viñetas y saberes: nuevas narrativas para transformar la salud,” examined how comics and illustrations clarify complex medical concepts for patients and students alike.
Universidad de Valparaíso reported that the event brought together national and international specialists to bridge the gap between hard sciences and visual arts. Dr. Andrea Tapia, an academic in the School of Chemistry and Pharmacy and creator of FarmaComic-UV, organized the gathering.
The main guest was Dr. Rafael Marrón Tundidor, an emergency physician, illustrator, and president of the Spanish Association of Graphic Medicine (Semgraf). His visit formed part of a project led by Dr. Juan Pablo Gigoux from the university’s School of Medicine to strengthen medical education through visual tools.
“La medicina gráfica es una disciplina que busca divulgar, enseñar y utilizar los recursos visuales para comunicarnos mejor. Somos seres visuales y, por eso, la combinación de texto e imágenes facilita tanto el aprendizaje como la comunicación,” Dr. Marrón told Universidad de Valparaíso during his keynote address.
He added that younger generations naturally process visual content rapidly and demand balanced text-image formats. He also emphasized that graphic novels are mature educational resources, stating that “el cómic es bien adulto y, además, es un formato muy aceptado y cada vez más.”
The gathering featured FarmaComic-UV presentations by alumni Daniela Clavería and Antonia Andrade. An interdisciplinary panel followed, involving Marrón, Gigoux, Dr. Alejandro Dinamarca from the Center for Micro-Bioinnovation, and design professor Carlos Céspedes.
Faculty of Pharmacy Dean Caroline Weinstein highlighted the collaboration between different university departments. “Este encuentro es inspirador y demuestra que el trabajo interdisciplinario entre las distintas facultades de la Universidad de Valparaíso puede generar aportes muy significativos, especialmente en la convergencia entre salud, comunicación, ciencia y arte,” Weinstein told Universidad de Valparaíso. She noted the event served as a tribute to the late Dr. Ernesto Fernández.
Marrón praised the collaborative environment at the university. “Esta jornada me ha sorprendido muchísimo. Creo que la interacción entre distintas disciplinas —como farmacia, ilustración, medicina y química— es precisamente lo que nos permite avanzar como sociedad,” he told Universidad de Valparaíso. He expressed a desire to export similar collaborative lab initiatives back to the University of Zaragoza.
Tapia emphasized the strong student turnout across all five years of the pharmacy program. “Estoy muy contenta, especialmente por la convocatoria, que reunió a estudiantes de primero a quinto año de Química y Farmacia, además de académicos de distintas disciplinas,” she told Universidad de Valparaíso.
Céspedes underscored the core responsibility of visual designers in health communication. “La función del diseñador, que tiene que ver justamente con la comunicación visual, acá se hace plenamente evidente y necesaria,” he told Universidad de Valparaíso.
Gigoux confirmed intentions to expand these academic bridges to other institutions nationwide. The event concluded as design students Alonso Erazo and Bell Wilches presented Marrón with a live-drawn portrait, symbolizing the ongoing synthesis of art and science.
- Sociedad Española de Medicina Gráfica (Semgraf) – Official framework on graphic medicine applications in clinical education.
- Universidad de Valparaíso – Faculty of Pharmacy institutional archives on the FarmaComic-UV initiative and translational neuropharmacology research.
