UW Medicine magazine features the artwork of Colfax’s David Yu

David Yu combines his illustration skills and sense of humor to produce his medical school-themed cartoons, as well as making drawings for patients to help them understand upcoming procedures.

David Yu, a member of the Colfax High School class of 2009 who will graduate from the University of Washington School of Medicine in May, is featured in the "Student Voices" page of the UW Medicine magazine. The article focusers on Yu's talent as an artist.

Known for his art skills when he was in school here, Yu now uses his talent to illustrate surgical procedures to explain to patients what is going to happen in an upcoming procedure.

He is the son of John and Holly (Huan) Yu of Colfax. Holly has been a nurse at Whitman Hospital for 14 years, and John is now retired from the University of Idaho. They also have daughter, Shelley, now an eighth grader.

David Yu is now completing clerkships at hospitals in Alaska and Idaho along with a rotation in surgery at the UW Medical Center in Seattle.

The clerkships are part of the UW's WWAMI program which offers educational opportunities in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.

Yu began medical studies at the University of Washington after completing undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering at Yale University.

The article notes many of his illustrations tend toward the humorous side, such a Star Wars characters performing surgery. He also did 11 illustrations for a professor of medicine to use in his class lectures.

Yu is still considering which surgical specialty he will pursue as a career.

He noted in the article his interest in art has "evolved into something I always make time for."