John Logan Brock doesn’t remember when he first wanted to be a medical doctor, but in kindergarten, he didn’t nap with his classmates. He used nap time to peruse human anatomy books, and to ask his teacher how old she was so he could calculate her number of red blood cells.
In eighth grade, he shadowed a hand surgeon during a career-day event. His career path was cemented.
Brock, 21, is graduating from CU-Boulder with a bachelor's in neuroscience and a minor in economics. He’s graduating summa cum laude and has been named the spring 2016 Outstanding Graduate in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Brock, a Centennial resident, also been a U.S. Presidential Scholar, a Boettcher Scholar and a member of the President’s Leadership Class.
His next academic stop is medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, where he intends to specialize in surgery, probably spinal surgery. Brock is interested in chronic pain, and back pain runs in his family.
Medicine has always interested Brock, but shadowing the hand surgeon in eighth grade was particularly impressive, he recalls.
“I got to watch him do hand surgery, and at the time I had no idea you could do surgery under a regional block anesthetic.”
The surgeon was not only extremely skilled but also helped his patients feel comfortable and safe just before and during surgery.
“It’s really remarkable,” Brock said. “To me, it seemed like such a rewarding career to make those personal connections, help someone who’s hurt and sick feel better, make them trust you and do a good job along the way.”
Brock’s honors thesis at CU-Boulder focused on sex differences in the efficacy of certain gene therapy for neuropathic pain in mice. He worked in the lab of Linda Watkins, distinguished professor of psychology and neuroscience, who praised his “exceptional level of technical skill and maturity.”
Watkins also described Brock as “one of the best undergraduates to have volunteered in my lab.”
When he’s not racking up academic awards, Brock spends his time volunteering as a youth baseball coach, map and compass navigation instructor, and physical-therapy worker. He’s also finished an Ironman Triathlon and run four marathons.
