Dr. Marvin Turck received his medical degree in 1959 from the University of Illinois, Chicago.
He completed an internship at the University of Illinois Research and Educational Hospital and infectious disease fellowship at the University of Washington, while concurrently completing a fellowship with the Epidemic Intelligence Service office, U.S. Public Health Service.
He returned to the University of Illinois in 1962, where he served as Senior Medical Resident at the Research and Educational Hospital and Chief Medical Resident, Cook County Hospital Service.
In 1964, he returned to the University of Washington as an assistant professor and rose through the ranks to professor in 1971. He was appointed emeritus professor in 2017.
Research
Dr. Turck’s research has focused on resistance in gram-negative bacteria. Along with colleagues, Turck devised the Kirby, Bauer, Sherris, Turck disc diffusion technique, used for antibiotic susceptibility testing.
He has been a prolific author, with 183 total peer-reviewed articles, textbook contributions, and other publications. His publications have appeared in high impact journals such as JAMA, NEJM, and the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Administration
Administratively, Turck has made major contributions to the School and Department of Medicine. As an assistant professor, he served as Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Harborview Medical Center and later as Chief of Medicine, Seattle, US Public Health Service Hospital.
He then served as Acting Physician-in-Chief and Physician-in-Chief at Harborview Medical Center. From 1974-1982, he served as Vice Chair for the Department of Medicine, and from 1982-1988 was both the Medical Director for Harborview Medical Center and an Associate Dean for the School of Medicine.
Throughout his tenure as a faculty member, he has served on many School of Medicine committees, including Appointments and Promotions, Admissions, Executive Committee, Financial Aid, Human Subjects Review, and many more.
Accolades
Turck has been lauded as an outstanding clinician, teacher, and mentor. He has attended at Harborview Medical Center since 1964, the Seattle VA since 1965, and the University of Washington Medical Center since 1966.
As an attending physician, he has received outstanding scores on his teaching evaluations and is well liked and respected by students and residents.
He was awarded the Outstanding Medical Teacher Award from the UW graduating medical student classes of 1970, 1973, 1976, as well as a Distinguished Teacher Award from the University of Washington Alumni Association in 1979.
In addition to receiving multiple awards from the University of Washington, he received the Distinguished Teacher Award from the American College of Physicians – American Society of Internal Medicine and the Clinical Teacher Award from the Infectious Disease Society of America.
Since 2004, the department has annually honored one faculty member with the Marvin Turck Outstanding Teaching Award, as recognition for outstanding contributions to teaching and patient care.
Nationally, Turck has contributed to a multitude of scientific boards, committees and national societies. From 1977-1988, he held a number of leadership positions in the American College of Physicians, including Washington chapter Governor, Vice Chair, Board of Governors and Regent.
In 1990, he was named Master, American College of Physicians.
Turck served on the Board of Governors for the American Board of Internal Medicine and held leadership positions in the Western Society for Clinical Investigation and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
He served on a number of editorial and advisory boards from 1969-2002, notably serving as Chief Editor for the Journal of Infectious Diseases from 1989-2002.
Legacy
50 years of service
Dr. Marvin Turck's 50 years of service to the University of Washington was honored June 4, 2014 at a celebration at Harborview Medical Center.
Dr. Bremner outlined his 50 years of service and Dr. Paul Ramsey talked about his relationship with UW Medicine.
Dr. Allan Ronald shared his experiences as Dr. Turck’s first fellow and Dr. Johan Bakken discussed his role in inspiring internal medicine residents to go into infectious diseases.
Dr. King Holmes talked about him as a mentor and Dr. Jim LoGerfo talked about him as an administrator.
Dr. Ginny Broudy spoke about the Turck Award for teaching and Dr. Wes Van Voorhis talked about his tenure as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Marvin Turck Education Room
To honor Dr. Turck’s 50 years of superb teaching and patient care at UW Medicine, a key teaching room at Harborview was named the “Dr. Marvin Turck Education Room” in a ceremony in December 2014.
Drs. Jeanne Marrazzo and Ginny Broudy celebrated this occasion with Dr. Turck and commented on his skill at the bedside, his diagnostic acumen, and his warmth and sense of humor that create an ideal atmosphere for learning the art of medicine.