It came as no surprise that Dr. David Pocock decided to become a physician. After all, his grandfather and five uncles were all doctors, paving the way for the younger Pocock to follow in their footsteps. “It sounded good to me,” said Dr. Pocock, whose sister was a registered nurse. “My confirmation came in that so many of my relatives had chosen to do it. And everyone thought my grandfather was a wonderful person and physician.”
Learning from the best, Dr. Pocock went on to have a successful career of his own in family medicine. And after 50 years of practicing medicine on three continents, he is retiring from OSF Medical Group – Primary Care, on August 13.
There will be a celebration parade honoring Dr. Pocock on Thursday, August 13, in the OSF Medical Group – Primary Care parking lot, 13539 Illinois Route 76, Poplar Grove, starting at 2:30 p.m. All are invited to attend.
A native of Australia, Dr. Pocock completed his training and started his career in general practice in his native country. In the 1970s, he went to work in England as a ship doctor. One memorable event of that time was when a passenger went into premature labor on board and Dr. Pocock delivered her baby. “That was quite an experience,” he said. “We built a humidcrib out of wood and plastic. I was lucky to have a three-star nurse there with me.”
In 1986, Dr. Pocock and his wife, Jennifer, came to the United States where he completed a residency in Macon, Georgia. Jennifer, who was from Brazil, wanted to be close to family. The couple has two children: Edward, who lives in Chicago, and a daughter, Vanessa, who lives in Los Angeles.
Dr. Pocock joined OSF HealthCare in 2003 and has spent the past 17 years working in various clinics. “I admire the quality of health care in this country,” he said. “OSF HealthCare has been very good to me. This organization works extremely hard at achieving excellence and I appreciate that.”
Practicing medicine, Dr. Pocock said, has evolved over the past five decades, but his passion never wavered. “I enjoyed diagnosis and I have an ability to explain situations to my patients. I was raised to be proficient at clinical science. That means feeling an enlarged liver, hearing a cardiac murmur, detecting weakness down one side the body. Today, much of that has been taken over by technology. But I always had both at my fingertips.”