Views & Reviews
Outside the Box
New images needed: stereotypes in medical photographs
BMJ 2010; 340 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c1524 (Published 17 March 2010) Cite this as: BMJ 2010;340:c1524- Trisha Greenhalgh, professor of primary health care, University College London
- p.greenhalgh{at}pcps.ucl.ac.uk
If you search “medicine” on Google Images, you get a hundred million photographs. The most common image is a stethoscope. The next is a bottle of pills (or, sometimes, red and black capsules). The next is a surgeon, masked and gowned, slicing skin with a scalpel. Try “patient” and you will find lots of people in stripy pyjamas, lying obediently in bed, often with a spotty rash or a leg strung up in an orthopaedic hoist. Access a professional image …
Log in
Log in using your username and password
Log in through your institution
Subscribe from £173 *
Subscribe and get access to all BMJ articles, and much more.
* For online subscription
Access this article for 1 day for:
£38 / $45 / €42 (excludes VAT)
You can download a PDF version for your personal record.