On Thursday, Feb. 20, the Anatomy and Physiology Club hosted a watercolor painting session in which pathology and artist Meredith Herman introduced attendees to recreating histology scenes with paint.
What is histology?
For those not in the medical field, histology may be an unfamiliar term. The National Library of Medicine provides a simple yet in-depth answer to this question.
“Histology is the microscopic study of tissues and organs through sectioning, staining, and examining those sections under a microscope. Histology allows for the visualization of tissue structure and characteristic changes the tissue may have undergone,” the website explains.
This study is usually used in the fields of forensics, autopsy, medical diagnosis and more. It is a specialized field that requires countless hours of training and study to ensure that practitioners of this science can properly separate tissue and read it under a microscope.
Another interesting factor of histology is how graphs and images for these tissue samples look. The Histology Guide website offers a look into plenty of examples of histology samples, which students can pursue and quickly realize that these samples are beautiful and almost artistic, with their unique shapes and often featuring shades of purple and pink throughout.
As a result, plenty of researchers and artists have dedicated their time to recreating these diagrams with art, whether it be pencil or paint. The Histology Paint Night event featured a picture of a skin tissue.
The event
Students gathered in a separate room near the back of the Pre-Health Center, located in Student Success 222, and took their seats, where members of the Anatomy and Physiology Club handed out palettes already set with various watercolor paints, paintbrushes and canvas boards.
Meredith Herman, a physician at the University of Michigan, is training to be a pathologist, but she also has a social media presence where she paints histology scenes and hosts online classes where she teaches others how to paint similar scenes.
“I paint as a tool for education, [by] teaching potential future scientists and laboratory professionals around the field,” Herman said.
The President of the Anatomy and Physiology Club, Reagan Steele, is a junior neuroscience and physiology double major. She discovered Herman on social media and made the brave move to reach out and request that she host a paint night for WSU’s club.
“I discovered Dr. Herman on social media, and after purchasing one of her paintings, I started following her on Instagram and TikTok where I saw her beautiful watercolor work. I realized very quickly [that] Dr. Herman is so inspiring! She’s a pathologist, artist and content creator, and it’s incredibly refreshing to see someone so passionate about their career,” Steele said.
Herman is absolutely passionate about her field. Throughout the night, she provided clear instructions about how to properly paint each part of the skin cell. She also provided advice about how to get involved in histology and research, both at the University of Michigan and WSU.
By the end of the night, attendees had a variety of unique paintings all following a similar pattern, which were shown off to Herman and the Anatomy and Physiology Club.
The hosts, and why they hosted
Herman has hosted many events since she reached popularity on social media.
“I started painting histology in medical school, then went viral on TikTok, so I continued to paint histology for my business which I started soon after,” Herman said.
While the paint nights are mainly for education purposes, some attendees visit just to experience painting a unique subject. Watercolor is an excellent art form that is often overlooked for similar mediums like acrylic and oil, and Herman’s viral work has helped show love to the unique art form.
She is currently in training to be a pathologist, which is a type of doctor that specializes in diagnosing diseases and cancer. Histology is an excellent start to pathology, as using histology methods can help uncover micro details.
Steele originally started at WSU as a nursing major, but she took anatomy and physiology courses with Dr. Bridgett Severt and Dr. Nick Ritucci, which led her to falling in love with the field.
“I completely fell in love with physiology and pathophysiology during those courses, and ultimately switched my major and decided to pursue medicine– and I haven’t looked back since,” Steele said.
She also decided to form the Anatomy and Physiology Club herself, as anatomy, physiology and histology are all major parts of medicine, but a club dedicated to these topics had not been created yet. She currently runs the club along with Vice President Togaa Khebreesh and Treasurer Hanna Ghouse.
The club calls for any student interested in the human body and those considering pre-health or pre-medicine. Thanks to the free and accessible events, this club is open to all students on-campus.
“For more social activities, we now do paint nights… fun anatomy trivia nights [and] host movie nights and anatomy competitions where participants can win plaques with their names on them,” Steele said. “Our signature event happens every spring, when we visit Jacob Coy Middle School to show over 300 middle schoolers real organs like liver, brain, heart, kidneys and bones.”
This signature event is still a few months away, and will not happen until May 2. Those interested can RSVP for the event on Engage.
Ultimately, the event was an excellent opportunity for students to get involved with the field of histology, and to meet the Anatomy and Physiology Club. Those who want to learn more about Herman can visit her Instagram page, and those who want to join Steele’s club can visit it on Engage.
