“In art school I considered myself more of a scientist than an artist,” Natter says, “And then in medical school, I considered myself more of an artist than a med student.” As a student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, he made anatomy sketches and funny cartoons about life as a student doctor and shared them on social media. “Even today, I’d rather identify as an artist first and a doctor second,” he avers.
Natter is currently a clinical assistant professor and physician at NYU Langone Health. He first awoke to the allure of medical science when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and had to monitor his glucose, insulin, and diet.
Like most students, Natter found the demands of medical school daunting, but again it was the artist who came to the rescue. He learned medicine by illustrating his class notes. The doodles in the margins soon morphed into full-fledged drawings of organs and their functions, diagrams of bio-chemical pathways, and other “didactic stuff”—often with quirky glimpses of visual humor. He posted the illustrations and cartoons on social media and soon attracted a following, which included many medical students who thanked Natter for helping them pass exams.
At Langone, he’s still drawing notes and posting them online, but he’s also chronicling the experience. “It’s been good, and it’s been trying,” he says. “You’re learning how to practice medicine for the first time. You’re dealing with death and codes. You’re trying to help people in their time of greatest need, and it’s exhausting.”
Natter has also become a celebrated international speaker, giving lectures on the intersection of art and medicine across the globe. He aims to humanize medical training and provide empathetic, patient-centered care by using creativity to teach, explain and practice the art of medicine.
“Every kid has a box of crayons, and every kid draws,” he says. “When everyone else stopped, I continued to draw. I don’t know why that is.” Natter is still that kid with a crayon trying to draw a picture of something honest and true.