A Conversation With Gerald Bock, MD

Dr Gerald Bock grew up in New York City, NY, and moved away to go to Union College in Schenectady, NY. He attended medical school at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in update New York, and while there, he spent an additional year in immunology research in the laboratory of Dr John Vaughan. Next, he spent a year of internship and a year of residency in pediatrics at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Subsequently, he spent 2 years in immunology research at the National Institutes of Health, during the time of the Vietnam War.

Next, Dr Bock entered the allergy and immunology program at the University of Colorado in Boulder, but after one year, he switched to the dermatology program. During this residency, he trained in Mohs surgery with Dr Fred Mohs, in Madison, WI. He is board certified in dermatology, dermatopathology, pediatrics and allergy, but his practice is limited to dermatology, dermatologic surgery, and cosmetic dermatology.

Q. What is your greatest regret?
My greatest regret in dermatology was recommending the hiring of a friend and fellow dermatology resident, as the third member of our group. With time, he began to behave erratically, and he eventually moved to another state. The stresses that accompanied this episode led to the eventual split up of our group.

Q. Who was your hero/mentor and why?
I had two mentors in dermatology. The first was Dr Guinter Kahn, who was acting chief of the dermatology department of the University of Colorado. As a fellow in the allergy & immunology program, I felt that I should know more dermatology than was provided by a 1-hour lecture in my senior year of medical school. I attended dermatology clinic with Dr Kahn, and he communicated his excitement about the practice and intellectual challenge of dermatology. When I decided that I would enjoy practicing dermatology more than allergy and immunology, Dr Kahn was the one who accepted me into the Colorado program. In those days, dermatology was far less popular than it is now, and we would be asked by fellow physicians why we did not want to be “real doctors.”

My second mentor was Dr William Gotham, whose practice I joined in Stockton, CA. Dr Gotham was a wonderful physician who loved dermatology and dermatopathology, and he taught me many practical points about the business of dermatology. The lesson that made the most impression was that one cannot please everyone, no matter how hard you try, and that one should not get upset when a patient was unhappy without cause. That message came to mind when, after practicing Mohs surgery for 45 years, I had my first Mohs surgery complaint. A woman, who ended up with a significant deficit on the tip of her nose, and who was referred, at her request, to a plastic surgeon for repair, wrote a letter to the Medical Board of California saying that I did not meet her psychological needs.

Q. What is the greatest political danger in the field of dermatology?
In the discussions on RxDerm, there are many who complain about the AAD and who also contribute nothing toward political action. In my view, the AAD is far from a perfect organization, but the leaders I have met impress me as intelligent and working diligently for the common good. In the days when plastics was promoting the message that the only good and safe cosmetic procedures were those performed by plastic surgeons, I have been told that the average contribution per plastic surgeon to get this message across was much higher than the contribution per dermatologist to refute the message. If our members persist in underfunding political action, I fear we will see long-lasting harm to our specialty.