In 2002, before she officially joined the university, she was a visiting scholar of of health policy and health services research. Dr. Garcia served as a mentor for the GSDM chapter of the Hispanic Dental Student Association from 2002-2006 and was a member of the Board of Trustee for the Massachusetts Chapter of the Hispanic Dental Association. She has taught courses on clinical dentistry, preclinical dentistry, dental anatomy, and fixed prosthodontics.