About John Crock

Dr. Crock began medical training at Melbourne University in 1978. In addition to the required six year degree, he spent an extra year working with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in the Kimberley Ranges – the farthest reaches of North West Australia – working with the local community and the indigenous population.

This experience was complemented by a three month training stint at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Having graduated with Honours in 1984, he then completed preliminary training in Melbourne at St Vincentís Hospital, prior to embarking on an MD thesis at Melbourne University and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. This research was in the area of human anatomy relating to reconstructive surgery, and has led to a better understanding of surgery in this field. The results of the thesis have been published in a number of international journals and have been presented at major scientific forums in America, England and Australia.

Dr. Crock was awarded the Surgical Research Societyís Young Investigator Award and the Plastic Surgery Education Foundation Award (USA) in 1989, and The Johnson and Johnson Clinical Research Award and the Australasian Plastic Surgery Registrar’s Research Award in 1992.

Subsequent training in clinical plastic surgery was undertaken in England, Australia, and America (particularly, Stanford University, California). Examinations in the field of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery were successfully completed in 1995. Dr. Crock was then elected a staff consultant Plastic Surgeon to Fremantle Hospital in Western Australia as well as having a private practice in Perth. Extensive experience was gained in the area of skin malignancies as well as reconstruction of hand and orthopaedic injuries. Dr. Crock moved back to Melbourne in 1997 and has been in practice here since that time.

He has continued to develop his medical education particularly in the area of surgery to the upper limb, and this has involved further travels to the United States of America to visit various hand surgery units. He works for the Southern Health network, Bass Coast Health network and Northern Fijian Health network (the latter on a volunteer basis) as well as maintaining a private practice in Melbourne and Rural Victoria (Gippsland). He is also continuing to expand the boundaries of reconstructive surgery, and is involved in ongoing research in the area of flap design.