Given the often-sensitive circumstances surrounding the sessions, the tenor of Garcia’s interaction with his patients is empathetic, yet he also feels a responsibility to prepare his patients for how others may react to them. To create one prosthesis, Garcia typically has three to four six-hour sessions with a patient over the course of a few weeks. Garcia’s goal is to help restore a sense of normality for his patients, and it can be an arduous task.

Patients who seek Garcia’s help may have suffered a serious injury, undergone surgeries resulting in the removal of extensive tissue or dealt with developmental conditions that affect physical formation. The landscape of those dynamics can be difficult to navigate. Thus, in addition to needing expertise in sculpting, painting, anatomy and materials science, anaplastologists must also be well-versed in clinical procedure, insurance structure and patient-clinician dynamics. In contrast to medical illustrators, however, anaplastologists interact directly with patients. Like many medical artists, anaplastologists synergize two seemingly divergent areas of expertise into one craft. in graphic design and illustration, and continued his training in the Johns Hopkins Art as Applied to Medicine graduate program. in biology, Garcia realized that his talent for and interest in art were too strong to pass off as a mere hobby. Juan Garcia is an associate professor in the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine, a certified clinical anaplastologist and the director of the Johns Hopkins Facial Prosthetics clinic.

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