New Book Sheds Light on Extraordinary Tales of Healing in East Africa and Today’s Healthcare System

Internationally renowned emergency medicine physician, DR. MARC-DAVID MUNK, has just published a new book URGENT CALLS FROM DISTANT PLACES: An Emergency Doctor’s Notes About Life and Death on the Frontiers of East Africa.  Dr. Munk’s book is not only a front-row seat to the harrowing realities of medical relief work in Africa; more so, it is a brutally damning appraisal of the pitiless and cruel ethical shortcomings of the modern American healthcare system.

During his missions, Marc’s team navigated through unthinkably perilous situations, from evading corrupt officials to making daring landings on unlit grass strips, often shooing away livestock in the process. They encountered terrorist threats and operated in the midst of war zones to provide medical care to patients suffering from everything from Ebola hemorrhagic fever to malaria to gunshot wounds.

After suffering from the all-too-familiar burnout that so many emergency medicine doctors experience, Marc joined AMREF’s (African Medical and Research Foundation) Flying Doctors to get back in touch with why he chose to practice medicine in the first place. His work there only served to highlight for him how truly broken the Western medical system is, and he returned to the US committed to refocusing on building alternative care delivery models that work. As the Chief Medical Officer for Clinics and Retail Pharmacy at CVS Health, his hire was, according to journalists at Bloomberg, “a sign that the drugstore chain is serious about providing more medical services directly to consumers.” Before that, he was the Chief Medical Officer at Iora Health, which Amazon acquired in 2023 for ~US$3.8 billion.

Marc’s story is one of burnout, reconnection with medicine’s fundamentals and a subsequent mission to revolutionize healthcare. He has appeared on ABC News, PBS Newshour, NPR and CBS News and work has been featured in Business Insider, USA Today, and Health Leaders Magazine.

DR. MARC-DAVID MUNK a Canadian/American, has emerged as a prominent figure in healthcare, driving change in emergency medicine and healthcare management across the U.S. and internationally. His career began as an emergency medicine professor and as the medical director of Qatar’s national ambulance service. Advancing to executive roles, he served as Chief Medical Officer for elite physician groups and as the regional President for an international division of a leading American healthcare system. Raised in Switzerland and Canada, Dr. Munk’s educational path led him to earn a BA in philosophy and religion from Colgate University. He then attained an MPH in international health from Boston University. His medical training was completed at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, followed by an emergency medicine residency and an international health fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. He also holds a Diploma in Tropical Medicine from Peru’s Gorgas Program and a master’s in healthcare management from Harvard University. Dr. Munk lives outside Boston with his wife and two children.

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