Dr. Andrew Jacono and the TV Series Facing Trauma
Television audiences got a close look at reconstructive surgery in 2011, when Facing Trauma premiered on Discovery Fit & Health. The reality documentary followed Dr. Andrew Jacono, a New York facial plastic surgeon, as he operated on victims of domestic violence and other traumatic injuries. The series later aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Each episode paired two stories. One was medical: the technical work of rebuilding a face damaged by violence. The other was personal, tracing how survivors began to reclaim a sense of who they were.
Shining Light on an Overlooked Issue
The show drew attention to a place where medicine and social justice meet, a subject that rarely gets airtime. Disfigurement from abuse affects far more than looks. Scars serve as a permanent visual reminder of trauma. They can make finding work harder and can hold survivors back emotionally long after the abuse ends.
Reconstructive surgery gives these patients a way to erase those markers. Dr. Andrew Jacono has done this for more than 100 survivors through FACE TO FACE, a pro bono program run by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He serves as the project’s senior advisor.
Recognition Beyond the Screen
The cameras captured work that had already earned notice. The Center for the Women of New York gave him a “Good Guy” Award in 2006 for his advocacy and free surgical care. U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy commended him in the Congressional Record for his contributions to women’s welfare through surgery and charity.
He also spent nine years chairing ABOUT FACE: MAKING CHANGES, an annual benefit that supports survivors of domestic violence.
Facing Trauma remains one of the more visible chapters of a career that extends well past his Park Avenue practice. Alongside his domestic work, Dr. Andrew Jacono has led surgical missions that have treated more than 750 children in developing regions. The television series, though, gave viewers a rare chance to watch survivors take back their faces and, with them, a measure of control over their lives. See related link for additional information.
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