Anatomy illustrated | Soon-to-be doctor creating drawings for medical texts

By TOM LAVIS

TLAVIS@TRIBDEM.COM

Michael Sracic’s first recognition as an artist came in 1990 when he captured first place in the elementary division of Mid-State Auto’s traffic safety poster contest.

Few people at the time, other than perhaps his parents, Stephen and Judith Sracic of Richland Township, would have predicted that the rudimentary drawing of a school guard helping children cross in front of a school bus, would be a stepping stone to their son’s recognition as a pre-eminent medical illustrator.

Michael Sracic, a 2004 graduate of Bishop McCort High School, is now 26 and an ensign in the Navy.

He will graduate May 17 as a doctor from the Uniformed Services University, located at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., but he was torn between selecting art or medicine as a career.

“I have drawn all my life,” he said. “For a long time, I thought I would go to art school and I was accepted to attended the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for Fine Arts. It was one of the best experiences of my life there, but I also started to realize that I wanted art to be something that continued to be fun for me rather than a way to make ends meet.”

While becoming a doctor, he also has earned a reputation as an exceptional artist.

Sracic’s favorite mediums to use are pen, ink and watercolors.

He currently is creating illustrations for medical texts while attending USU.

“The first medical illustrations I created for orthopedic papers will be published soon,” Sracic said. “I have illustrated an entire anesthesia textbook for Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which will be finished soon.”

Sracic said a chance encounter with a consultant to an Army surgeon general got him into professionally illustrating the text.

“I got lucky,” he said. “I met Col. Jack Chiles, one of the anesthesiology attending physicians at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, when I was a third-year student, and one of our discussions turned to my art.”

Sracic created some illustrations to show a staff member who was working on a book and was looking for an illustrator.

That man was Lt. Col. Trip Buckenmaier, chief of the Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management department at Walter Reed, who is leading the textbook project.

The book is titled “Military Advanced Regional Anesthesia and Analgesia Handbook.”

“We are producing the first supplement to the ‘Emergency War Surgery’ book, which is considered to be the bible for appropriate medical management of typical military wounds, such as blast injuries, burns and multiple penetrating injuries,” Buckenmaier said.

“(Sracic) has produced some of the finest medical illustrations that I have ever seen.”

Sracic has combined his medical and artistic talents to embody the best of both worlds.

“When I graduate, I will be a Navy doctor who is an artist,” he said.

“There is a lot of art in the practice of medicine, and I think my future in orthopedic surgery will be a great place for some artistic talent as well.”

Nonetheless, he realizes that, as an officer in the Medical Corps, his primary responsibilities and goals are to provide exceptional care to sailors, Marines, soldiers and airmen, as well as to their families.

Illustrating the human body is no easy chore, and with Sracic’s medical background, it is an advantage in accomplishing the task.

“Art certainly helps me learn my anatomy, and I think it provides a great scaffold for developing my surgical technique as well,” he said.

Sracic credits his father for being an inspiration.

“My dad is a very talented artist. He did a lot for me to help me improve my technique and skill at a very young age,” Sracic said. “He taught me a lot.”

To be a successful anatomical illustrator, an artist must possess an overall understanding of anatomy.

“There is really not a lot of room for artistic license in medical illustration because overall, the illustration needs to be correct,” Sracic said.

To assure accuracy, Sracic uses photos or cadaver radiographic images, bone specimens and other illustrations.

Sracic’s work will be part of an exhibit in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History next year.

The exhibit is titled “Written in Bone.” It will feature his drawings alongside specimens collected from Colonial America.

After graduation, Sracic will serve an internship in orthopedics.

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