John Gerlach, MD

University of Michigan Medical School. John grew up in Sammamish, WA, and graduated from Yale University in 2014 with a BA in Global Affairs. At no point did he ever consider medicine as a career! While in college, he helped start an education technology company that sought to help school districts collect and use student feedback to help teachers and schools improve. After college, he worked for that company for two years, before deciding that he wanted to pursue a career in medicine. Prior to starting a post-baccalaureate program, he worked as a sourdough baker in Sonoma County, where his family had recently moved, and fell in love with the area. 

While completing his post-bacc, first in the Bay Area and then in Claremont at the Scripps Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical program, John worked as a primary care scribe in the San Francisco Department of Public Health, scribing at the Curry Senior Center, a clinic serving the geriatric, underhoused population of the city’s Tenderloin district. There, he saw firsthand the kind of doctor he wanted to be, and he held on tight to that vision throughout medical school. At the University of Michigan, he performed in the school’s annual Galens Smoker, a musical revue making fun of the school and its faculty, and helped direct the show his 4th year. He also was involved in UofM’s re-accreditation process and was selected as one of two students on the national Liaison Committee for Medical Education during his 4th year. He is interested in medical ethics, and the application of ethics in the primary care space; during his final year at Michigan he completed a clinical ethics fellowship to get his Healthcare Ethics Consultant certification. He is over the moon to be heading back to California and to be so close to his family. Outside of school, he loves food and cycling and is particularly excited to explore the county with his new adopted dog, Daisy.