Palliative Medicine Physician and Writer
Marc-David Munk
I am an academic palliative medicine physician. I am also a nonfiction author. My first book, Urgent Calls from Distant Places, will be published globally by the HarperOne imprint of HarperCollins Publishers in January 2027.
My next book is underway. It explores the intersections of palliative care, healthcare policy, human frailty, and the inevitable decisions we all face at life's end.
When I wore ties to work, before palliative care, I held senior leadership roles at various healthcare organizations. Most recently, I spent four years as an executive based in the Middle East. There, I oversaw projects with government and private-sector partners, including oversight of the planning and build-out of healthcare services for a Saudi Arabian giga-project.
Before that, I held Chief Medical Officer positions at Iora Health (a primary care startup later sold to Amazon) and Reliant Medical Group (a large multi-specialty physician group), and was the Associate Chief Medical Officer for CVS Health. I was also a senior advisor/clinical architect to Oscar Health's medical group, and led quality and patient safety for the University of New Mexico Health System.
At the beginning of my career, I worked as an emergency physician and staffed university trauma centers in Pittsburgh and Albuquerque.
My family and I live outside Boston.
NEWS
Jan 15/ 26
I'm thrilled that my first book, Urgent Calls from Distant Places has been picked up by the HarperOne imprint of HarperCollins publishers. Urgent Calls will be edited by Biz Mitchell, an Executive Editor at HarperOne. Release in January, 2027.
Thanks to my agent Dalyn Miller for coordinating the deal.
July/ 25
Urgent Calls has been recognized for excellence in writing:
Best travel book of 2025. Indiereader Discovery Awards
Finalist for best memoir. 2025 Eric Hoffer Book Award.
Quarter-finalist for best nonfiction book. 2025 Publisher's Weekly Booklife Awards.
WRITING
Books in Release
Urgent Calls from Distant Places
Published by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins,
Released January, 2027
"A profound exploration of emergency medicine practiced at the most remote and challenging frontiers of East Africa. This inspiring memoir finds hope and meaning in the face of extraordinary odds as a young physician asks: What are the ethical and moral dimensions of saving one life knowing countless others will die?"
“Prepare yourself for harrowing tales of daring landings on tree-lined dirt runways, emergency medical care rendered under the blazing African sun on patients at the verge of death, eye-opening insight into the longstanding effects of colonialism on East Africa, and one doctor’s profound journey of self-discovery and what it means to humble oneself in the service of others. Marc-David Munk brings the East African Flying Doctors to life in his thrilling and insightful memoir, Urgent Calls from Distant Places. An outstanding read! I highly recommend."
Dr. Jay Wellons: author of All That Moves Us (voted one of the best books of 2022 by The New Yorker and Publishers Weekly.)
"Urgent Calls From Distant Places is not only a powerful and dramatic portrait of medical relief work in rural Africa, it’s a deeply-felt and utterly accurate critique of the cruel moral failings of American healthcare as well. Marc-David Munk is seeking the essential in medicine regardless of where one is in the world, and approaches his story with humility, a synthetic intelligence, wisdom, and an ultimately affirming reverence."
Dr. Frank Huyler: author of The Blood of Strangers, White Hot Light and Right of Thirst.
"Buy It"
Kirkus Reviews
An enthralling portrait of high-wire emergency care performed under the most trying circumstances...The author’s gripping, evocative prose conveys the adrenalized pressure of emergency care...The result is a true-life medical drama that combines tense heroics with mordant reflections.
Kirkus Reviews
Quarter-Finalist
2023 Publisher's Weekly
Booklife Prize for Non Fiction
9.75/ 10
"Munk evokes the chaos and flurry of Africa’s larger cities alongside the desolation of desert landscapes, all in expert prose that smoothly transports readers into another world. He renders accident scenes in raw, sometimes disturbing spaces, an echo of the tragedies he witnessed during his time abroad, but just as powerful are his reflections on hard-won healings...Munk’s ability to draw out the tender moments of his experiences and juxtapose them with the stark reality of his medical work in often-dire circumstances lends this memoir originality and magnetism."
Booklife
Books Underway
?
Title TBD
Currently Underway
An unflinching look at intersection of palliative care, healthcare policy, human frailty, and the choices we all face at life's end.
SELECTED INTERVIEWS
SELECTED MEDIA
