According to The Graphic Medicine Manifesto, graphic medicine is “a community of patients, caregivers, practitioners, scholars, and comics enthusiasts connected by their shared appreciation for the power of comics to make an impact on health.” At the University of Virginia, faculty, students, and staff engage in graphic medicine in many exciting ways as clinicians, scholars, and educators.
In July 2026, Donna Chen, MD, Monique Dufour, PhD, and Jess Walters presented UVA graphic medicine initiatives at the Graphic Medicine Conference at Johns Hopkins University. Their talk, “Graphic Medicine for Faculty Development,” was a part of a panel on “Graphic Medicine in Universities and Medical Schools.”
Dr. Chen, interim director of the UVA Center for Health Humanities and Ethics (CHHE), featured the ways that graphic medicine practices promote reflective learning in undergraduate medical education. Dr. Dufour, director of faculty development for the School of Medicine (SOM), described how they use zines—handmade, self-published booklets—in the SOM’s faculty writing retreats and workshops.
Jess Walters (UVA ‘14), inaugural FusionLab Community Artist in Residence (CAIR) at the CHHE, plays an essential role across all of these UVA initiatives. Walters has authored an extensive collection of self-published zines, and displayed their library of work at the panel along with some examples of materials they provide for their workshops.
Jess Walters displays collection of zines.
In their talk, Walters described their innovative method for using “activity zines”—8-page mini-zines with prompts—as a low-barrier learning tool, and demonstrated ways that they are using them in faculty development, medical education, and patient advocacy initiatives at SOM.
The Q & A portion of the panel also provided an opportunity to introduce UVA’s “Clinician’s Eye” program, a collaboration between the CHHE and The Fralin Museum of Art, where Walters and Dr. Chen both serve as medical docents. When co-panelist Leesha Coleman from the University of South Alabama mentioned “slow looking,” Walters reached into their zine display to share an activity zine they had created on this method of engaging with art. Afterward, Matthew Noe, MSLS and Lead Collection & Knowledge Management Librarian at Harvard University, posted on social media with a photo of Jess, “‘I have a zine for that!’ Jess Walters with my new favorite catchphrase.”
Following their panel, Walters accepted an invitation to display their zine collection in the main conference hall for the remainder of the event, where they distributed more than 50 zines and engaged in many conversations about their role at CAIR, their Accessible Arts Initiative, and the potential for “activity-zines” in the field of graphic medicine. Jess was also invited to present their poetry zine, “STARDUST” at the conference closing ceremony, which was met with great praise.
Interested in experiencing graphic medicine for yourself?
- UVA Faculty are invited to join the upcoming half-day writing retreat at the Health Sciences Library on Friday, October 23, facilitated by Dr. Dufour and featuring a “Zine Your Scholarship” workshop with Jess Walters. Learn more and register here.
- Follow @UVAhsl on Instagram for updates about the forthcoming Graphic Medicine collection at the Health Sciences Library, co-curated by Jess Walters and Dr. Chen.
Filed Under: Faculty