Artful Surgery
November 5, 2012鈥擯lastic surgeon (C鈥�74, M鈥�78) is world-famous for his skill with a scalpel. His current exhibition in Georgetown鈥檚 showcases his artistic skill with pen and pencil.
A and double major, Hidalgo followed the pre-medical track from his first year on the Hilltop, deciding that 鈥渂iology was the most logical major鈥� since he wanted to become a doctor. But in his sophomore year, Hidalgo branched out, enrolling in art classes because he had loved painting and drawing since childhood.
鈥淚 brought fine arts into the picture because I鈥檝e always wanted to do that,鈥� Hidalgo said. 鈥淚n fact, if I hadn鈥檛 done pre-med, I would have just gone to art school.鈥�
(C鈥�75), chair of the art and art history department, was a senior at Georgetown when he met Hidalgo in a painting course. Morrell saw that Hidalgo had 鈥渙bvious鈥� artistic flair and talent.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know him well, and I didn鈥檛 know what was in his mind in terms of where he was going to be going,鈥� Morrell recalled, 鈥渂ut he was doing a very large painting of cars on a racetrack, and it was a photorealistic picture. It definitely showed off his technical skills, his attention to detail, his persistence in trying to get things just right.鈥�
Art and science are often seen as opposites in academia, but Hidalgo has cultivated not only surgical skill, but also a sense of beauty, shape, and form. As a reconstructive surgeon at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in the 1980s and 鈥�90s, he developed new surgeries that have become standard around the world. Many of them were inspired by his fine arts background.
鈥淭he most notable one is a surgery that uses a bone from the outside of the leg鈥攊t鈥檚 not a weight-bearing bone鈥攃alled the fibula. By cutting it into very precise pieces, you can make it become an exact replica of the jawbone that is removed from cancer patients who have that sort of problem,鈥� Hidalgo explained.
鈥淭he real hardcore plastic surgery technique [is] when you hook up the blood vessels, because the blood vessels are the diameter of a matchstick. The tools that we use are finer than human hair, so it鈥檚 done under a microscope,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭hat particular skill, in terms of developing that surgery, is not something I learned in medical school. It鈥檚 something I learned from my fine arts training at Georgetown.鈥�
According to Morrell, Hidalgo is unique because of the 鈥渧isual literacy鈥� he demonstrates both on the operating table and in his sketches and paintings: an ability to picture elements or outcomes and then to make them reality.
鈥淲hen you make a work of art, you think about what you want to do, but in actuality you build relationships in the painting or the sculpture that are always reassessed while in progress,鈥� Morrell said. 鈥淚n the end, the greatest works of art are never what the artists intended from the start. Eventually the picture comes out when you finally realize that everything is working together.
鈥淒avid had some technical skills from art, but he also had his training in imagination,鈥� Morrell continued. 鈥淭he whole idea of being able to imagine how to reconstruct the jaw and to visualize it鈥攊t鈥檚 not just skill, it鈥檚 developing the eye to compare visuals.鈥�
For the past 12 years, Hidalgo has been working in aesthetic surgery as opposed to reconstructive surgery. As an aesthetic plastic surgeon, Hidalgo performs operations on patients not because they have endured trauma or disease, but because they 鈥渉ave what they perceive to be defects,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 changing the body to change the mind, and that鈥檚 more demanding than reconstructive surgery. You鈥檙e taking somebody who has nothing wrong with them, and you鈥檙e trying to make them 鈥榖etter鈥� by operating on them, which is a bold concept,鈥� Hidalgo said.
鈥淭hat is all about a combination of the medical skills to actually do the surgery and the visual skills to make the surgery come out the way you want.鈥�
David Hidalgo, M.D.: Personal Passages is on view until December 9, 2012, in the Lucille and Richard Spagnuolo Gallery, located in Walsh 101.