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Lack of sleep, little down time, and a tight budget: most working parents can relate. This was especially true for Brock O'Neil, MD, currently a urologic surgeon-scientist at Huntsman Cancer Institute and associate professor of urology at the , as he approached his fourth year of medical residency. He and his wife had three young sons and a small home. The demands of his medical training left little time or resources for unexpected repairs. When the kitchen faucet broke, he watched a few videos online and tried to fix it himself, but his efforts were unsuccessful.
鈥淥ur water was turned off. The dishes were piling up, and I was just busy with work, dealing with this stress,鈥 says O鈥橬eil. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥楬ow am I going to fix this?鈥欌 An offer from a former chief resident in Twin Falls, Idaho, promised a signing bonus and an escape from financial strain. 鈥淲e thought, if I just sign this contract, we'll be able to hire a plumber,鈥 he says. 鈥淎ll the other financial stresses will be minimized. We'll be happy.鈥
But on the way back to the hospital one day, O'Neil experienced a profound moment of clarity. 鈥淚 had this overwhelming impression that I needed to stick with academics, to go back and take care of cancer patients and pursue the surgeon-scientist route,鈥 he says. He felt a deep sense of purpose鈥攁 calling to use his talents to help others, even if it meant enduring temporary hardships.
Today, O'Neil specializes in treating bladder, prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Utah has one of the highest incidence rates in the country of testicular cancer. This form of cancer typically strikes young men in their late teens to thirties. Until breakthroughs in chemotherapy during the late 1960s and 1970s, about 50% of patients died from the disease.
鈥淣ow we cure almost everybody who has testicular cancer,鈥 O'Neil says. The focus, he explains, is on refining treatments to minimize side effects while maintaining high cure rates.
For O鈥橬eil, the work is personal. In his early 20s, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. 鈥淚 had noticed some changes. I was having some pain. Two days later, I was in the operating room,鈥 he says. Fortunately, the surgery successfully treated his cancer. His experience as a patient opened his eyes to urology in a way he hadn't considered before. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that I would have chosen urology as my specialty had I not gone through that,鈥 he says.
鈥淚 had this overwhelming impression that I needed to stick with academics, to go back and take care of cancer patients and pursue the surgeon-scientist route.鈥
O'Neil is now in his ninth year at Huntsman Cancer Institute. His path to this point has been anything but linear. Growing up in Boise, Idaho, he knew he wanted to be a doctor from a young age. 鈥淚 knew I wanted to go into medicine since I was in second grade.鈥 He attended Brigham Young University for undergraduate work, where he studied exercise science and sociology.
During that time, he took part in a project studying the health effects on steel mill workers who had lost their jobs due to the closure of Geneva Steel in Vineyard, Utah. He found former employees had lost their health insurance, were suffering from depression, and didn鈥檛 have the financial means to pay for treatment. His contribution to the research, a survey focusing on the health impacts of the closure, became one of the project's key findings. Those discoveries later contributed to legislation that allows people who lose their jobs to tap into retirement savings without taking a penalty.
鈥淚 was totally hooked,鈥 he says. 鈥淭his experience ignited a passion for research that has stayed with me throughout my career.鈥 His personal journey, from patient to physician, from Idaho to Italy and back, from plumbing problems to profound epiphanies, has shaped his commitment to advancing cancer care.
In his interactions with patients, O'Neil draws from his personal experiences to offer hope. He often shares his story with his patients who have a similar diagnosis. He hopes that by being open and vulnerable enough to share his own cancer journey, he can inspire optimism and resilience in others.
鈥淎 lot of young men worry about fertility and if they'll be able to have children,鈥 he says. 鈥淲hen I tell them, 鈥榊eah, I have four sons,鈥 they like to hear that. I also tell them that this is going to be hard. You're going to go through some difficult stuff, but very likely, you're going to be around for a really long time. You're going to get to live a beautiful life, too.鈥
Beyond his clinical work, O'Neil is deeply committed to increasing access to health care, particularly for people living in rural and frontier communities. His research focuses on understanding and reducing obstacles to healthcare access, a passion that connects him to his roots.
As Huntsman Cancer Institute prepares to break ground on a second comprehensive cancer center in Vineyard, O'Neil can't help but feel a sense of fulfillment. 鈥淭his feels very much like going full circle,鈥 he reflects.
Brock and his family are far from the days of the broken kitchen faucet. With an unwavering dedication to cancer care and research, O'Neil's journey is a testament to the power of perseverance and the profound impact one person can have on the lives of others.