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Ten Questions With Our April 2025 Faculty Spotlight
Getting to Know Dr. Kathryn Marko
Excellence in teaching & learning, scholarly endeavors, and leadership are all around us at GW Medicine. The Center for Faculty Excellence would like to spotlight each member's contributions to our academic community and beyond! Each month, we will highlight a faculty or staff member. As part of our highlights, we have also curated a Spotify playlist based on the songs our spotlights have selected. We want to thank our highlighted faculty and staff members for sharing their advice and perspectives with us!
- SMHS Center for Faculty Excellence
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Biography
Kathryn Marko, MD, FACOG, NCMP, is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist at The GW Medical Faculty Associates and an Associate Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at The George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She is a graduate of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. She completed her residency at Northwestern's McGaw Medical Center, where she later served as faculty. Dr. Marko is the former Director of the Residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at GW, and she is passionate about educating her future colleagues. She is an active member in the Association of Professors of Obstetrics & Gynecology and
the North American Menopause Society. Her clinical interests include menopause, perimenopause care, and contraception. She is passionate about partnering with her patients to provide comprehensive and compassionate care.
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Interview Q&A
How long have you been at GW Medicine, and what drew you to your current position?
Katie: I have been at GW for 14 years, since 2011. Initially, I came to GW because my husband was in the Navy, working as a radiologist. I was fortunate that my residency program director knew Dr. Gaba very well and recommended that I work at GW within the Department of OBGYN.
Although my husband is no longer in the Navy, he works as a contractor at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, we both love the DC area and have stayed here ever since. It’s a great place to raise our two children, and I love my job and greatly appreciate the career and family I have created here at GW.
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Why did you decide to pursue a career in obstetrics and gynecology, and student affairs?
Katie: As far as the field of OBGYN, I initially did not think I would like the specialty as a medical student, but after my third year rotation, I realized I absolutely loved it! I knew these were the people that I wanted to be with, the patients I wanted to take care of, and the mentors I wanted to have. As an OBGYN, I can provide longitudinal care for patients, and I fell in love with the ability to care for people across their lifespan and realized how important it was. I was one of those late differentiators when deciding what I wanted to do after medical school, but once I saw these things in action within this specialty, I knew it was the right fit. This experience now helps inform me on how to support medical students who may be going through similar challenges.
Within my role as the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, I counsel a lot of medical students, who may have no idea what they want to do. I reassure them that it's okay to not know at first and use my journey as an example that everyone eventually finds their place. I am incredibly happy with where I ended up.
I was the residency program director for OBGYN for seven years before moving to student affairs on January 1st of this year, so I am very new to my role. I really appreciate this opportunity in student affairs because after getting a deep understanding of residency, I am able to transition from one side of the match to the other, which has allowed me to challenge myself differently than what I had been doing for many years. It has been very fun to work more closely with the students. It is also an honor to be able to support the students throughout their medical school journey and encourage them to maintain overall wellness during this time in medical school - my hope is to guide these students into careers that they will find just as fulfilling to them as I find mine to be.
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What would you be doing if you did not pursue a career as an OBGYN?
Katie: I actually studied botany as an undergrad, so I would have been an evolutionary botanist. My honors thesis was on pine trees, and I have always loved studying plants. I did a lot of work near the University of Colorado when I was in school, looking at potential radiation fallout in plant life and scanning pine needles to look at stomatal patterns. I love the outdoors and being in nature, and I think many of the principles I learned in undergrad can be applied to every specialty.
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Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Katie: This is an incredibly challenging time right now in OBGYN. There are a lot of political, social, and legal challenges affecting the field. At the same time, it is also exciting because there is such a prominent call to advocate for our patients and peers both on an individual level and on a national and global scale. This advocacy is something we emphasize in our residency program, encouraging our residents to become advocates in every sense of the word and dig deep into these problems to understand how these topics are impacting our patients, how we can really push and advocate for them, and hopefully come up with systemic changes that are going to be of benefit for patients. It is also important for us to think through these challenges in creative ways and ensure our patients feel well and whole.
Another exciting thing is this new spark of interest and discussions about menopause care. I became menopause certified in 2011, a year after completing my residency. This area is being more widely discussed, which is exciting! This highlight on menopause care is important - and it is great that more people are talking and interested in learning more about it.
Office of Student Affairs
Within student affairs, I'm excited about learning more and continuing to grow. Getting to know the students better from the beginning of their medical school journey has been really awesome. We have such excellent and dedicated students who are going to be fantastic doctors to patients someday, so it is really nice getting to know them and supporting them through the Roadmap to Residency and beyond. In addition, I am excited to understand and learn more about accreditation and help promote our LCME success.
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What is a professional accomplishment this past year that you are proud of?
Katie: Another area of expertise specific to OBGYN that I work in is breech vaginal delivery, which is a unique clinical skill that is not offered everywhere. Over the summer, I was able to go to one of my alma maters, the University of Colorado, to give Grand Rounds on our breech program because they are planning on starting one of their own. It was a really awesome experience to be able to come back to the place that grew me, speak at the medical school, and share my expertise on the topic. I was also able to see a few of my former residents who are now working there, which was very rewarding.
Another accomplishment this past year was the residency program and being able to hand off my role as the residency program director to a fantastic group of new leaders in the department. It was bittersweet to transition out of that role, and I am proud of how that transition has gone. Of course, I am still here and look forward to continuing to support the residents and the OBGYN team.
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What is a personal accomplishment this past year that you are proud of?
Katie: Being able to support my family. I have 7th and 4th grade boys who are both amazing! In addition, finding fulfillment in many areas of life and career are personal accomplishments of mine.
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What is something that you are working on this next year that you are really excited about?
Katie: Within OBGYN, I am looking forward to continuing working with breech programs. A few years ago, I gave grand rounds to a team in Redding, Pennsylvania, that started a breech program around that same time. Now I am going back in the fall to teach at a conference that they're hosting that will gather people from all over the world, to discuss breech vaginal birth - and I am really excited to be a part of that and see how the program has grown.
I am excited to continue to grow within my role at OSA because it is something that will allow me to have a bigger role within the medical school, which is something I am excited about. I am also excited about some international travel this year and a few other things coming down the pipeline that I am looking forward to.
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What is something that your colleagues might not know about you that you want to share?
Katie: I am pretty much an open book! I am a huge fan of Taylor Swift, and love her music and any book that has magic and dragons. Another thing I really enjoy doing is bike riding, specifically on gravel. I ride the C&O Canal often, and my husband and I rode our bikes from Georgetown, DC to Cumberland, MD, for our anniversary - which is about 180 miles each way. Biking is calming, peaceful, and a great way to clear my mind.
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In baseball, they have walk-up songs to get the players and fans excited about the game. What would your walk-up song be to get you excited about your work?
Katie: My walk-up song is, Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? By Taylor Swift.
For me, that song is all about reclaiming power. It also emphasizes being a powerful presence while also having a sense of vulnerability. We are all complex people and are never the same thing to everyone at every moment. That song and message speak to me and perhaps would intimidate the other team a little!
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How does this spotlight/recognition make you feel?
Katie: This spotlight really makes me feel happy and proud! It feels great to be recognized in this way and to feel like I have contributed to the institution positively and people are interested in hearing more.
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