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Born and raised in Karelia, Russia on the banks of Lake Onega, between the White and Baltic seas, Dr. Marchalik compares his childhood that of many American children. “My mother was an internal medicine doctor, and my father worked in IT,” he shared. Although his brother is thirteen years his junior, the two are very close.

At age eleven, his family relocated to Minnesota to live near his aunt. “The cold was similar to Russia, but that may have been the only comparison,” he said. After only five years, the family moved again to East Brunswick, NJ, where they put down roots.

“My extended family is full of doctors,” said Dr. Marchalik. “It was more a question of whether I could be anything else, not if I wanted to pursue medicine,” he said of his career path. Medicine was an easy decision, but his specialty took a little longer. “Most physicians select their specialty during their third year of medical school, but it wasn’t until a few months into my fourth year that I chose urology. I was all over the map, but ultimately very happy with my choice,” he said.    

While medicine may have been the clearest path for him, literature continued to call out. “I am a passionate reader. Everyone in my family enjoys reading,” he said. This bibliophile longed to study literature. “Reading is a wonderful experience that can transport the reader to other places and times,” he said. To Dr. Marchalik, a good book is simply one that cannot be put down. 

His voracious appetite for literature led him to study this passion in tandem with medicine. 

“During my last two years of residency, I began a graduate degree program in English Literature at Georgetown University,” he said. Although residency is known as a time-consuming and exhausting requirement for any physician, for Dr. Marchalik, his English Literature studies lessened the burden of residency. “It offered me an escape from medicine and challenged the other side of my brain,” he said.

Following his residency in 2016, Dr. Marchalik pitched an idea to the curriculum directors at Georgetown University School of Medicine. His proposal was a program that would re-center health in its broader social, cultural, and historical context. It also aligned with the school’s education mission that health practitioner cannot treat the whole patient without recognizing and valuing their humanity in its many facets. “I wanted to create the type of program that I wish I could have taken when I was a medical student. The idea was well-received, and we hit the ground running!” The Literature and Medicine Track has been offered at the Georgetown University School of Medicine for nearly a decade. Two years ago, Dr. Marchalik worked to introduce a similar program on Georgetown’s main campus focused on the Medical Humanities.

It is open to both pre-med and undergrad students with no interest in pursuing medicine and brings unique perspectives to every lecture. “This program allows us to engage a part of our brains that doesn't always get a chance to be stimulated during medical education,” he said. The classrooms, taught jointly by medical campus and main campus faculty, are filled with undergraduate and medical students sitting side-by-side. There is no other program like this in the United States.

But life isn’t only about the classroom and the hospital for this Renaissance doctor. Like so many other people, he used the pandemic to pick up a new hobby. Dr. Marchalik took up running. Running helped to combat isolation, community closures, and protect his own mental health. 

But Dr. Marchalik doesn’t just run, he trains, and selects his races wisely. “I ran my first marathon in Paris last year,” he said. This year he is training for the Oslo, Norway marathon and will also run in his local D.C. Marine Corps Marathon. His training runs take him past significant D.C. monuments, onto the C&O Canal, the Mt. Vernon Trail, and Rock Creek Park where the hills provide him with a challenge the city doesn’t. 

Running helps maintains a balance with each of his life’s endeavors; his passion for his Medical Humanities classes, providing top notch urology care for his patients, and volunteerism with MSDC.

“MSDC is incredible. Its membership and leaders are taking a serious approach to physical wellbeing.” Dr. Marchalik volunteers on the Wellbeing Task Force to help implement coaching programs for physicians and online access to programming. The members of this task force are committed to providing resources and support to District physicians in their struggle against burnout. They do this in part by providing coaching, counseling, networking, and best practice templates to combat moral injury and burnout. 

At the end of the day, Dr. Marchalik enjoys a nice wine to accompany a delicious meal. “D.C. has an incredible food scene. There are so many options, they are never ending.” One of his favorite meals is sushi from Zeppelin DC with a nice, chilled sake. 

Do you know a physician who should be profiled in the MSDC Spotlight Series? Submit a nomination to Robert Hay, hay@msdc.org, for a future story. MSDC membership is encouraged for featured physicians.