About John Walker
Plastic surgery is the marriage of art and medicine. A good plastic surgeon sees the body as a sculptor does, but also understands its complexities as a physician. I was destined to do plastic surgery. I grew up in a family of artists, and I love the visual arts. My vocation for caring for people led me to medicine, but I chose plastic surgery because it offers intellectual and technical challenges and artistic satisfaction. I first studied medicine in South Africa, where I was born. During my plastic surgery residency there, I was exposed to reconstructive surgery, head and neck, burn, microsurgery, and cosmetic surgery. Because of South Africa’s political and social instabilities, I left to continue my training with a research fellowship in the Cleft/ Craniofacial division at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles and Residencies at Case Western Reserve University Hospital and Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena (USC).
