Thom created these cover images for the Journal of Norwegian Medical Association. The most recent cover, on the use of Electroconvulsive Therapy, was a challenge for Thom. He writes, " I pretty much had to dispel the negative connotations and images that were impressed upon me with films such as One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. I was asked to create an image that conveyed a sense of hope and positive end results." The article notes that ECT is still used today and with good results on certain types of depression.
The first cover Thom created (issue 6) was on drug addiction and drug screening. The Art Director, Emma Dalby, asked him to illustrate some of the key words. What Thom wanted to convey was "a sense of being 'shackled' to a substance when you are addicted. This comes across in the hands that are almost 'hand-cuffed' by the smoke. The head is floating on purpose......I wanted the head to be almost floating as if you are not present but in your own world. The pills almost form pillows as well. The molecular structure of THC is present on the side. That structure becomes part of the brain structure as if taking over. So the whole image is a mixed up montage to go with the idea of the scattered fragments of logic present in drug addiction. "
