Ian Marks, PA-C, DFAAPA, grew up in California. While in college, he joined the US Navy Reserve as a Hospital Corpsman in 1985. Following initial training as a Fleet Marine Force (FMF) (field) corpsman, he integrated into the regular Navy and served with several Marine Corps units. He was deployed around the world, including Central America, the Middle East, and the Western Pacific, proudly serving only in Marine Corps units during his Navy career including 2/3, 2/12, as staff at The Basic School, Marine Barracks 8th, and Security Forces. During this time, he was introduced to several PAs who encouraged him to apply to PA school. Then Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Mike Davis, PA-C, LCDR (ret), a former AAPA president) and CWO(ret) Roger Ware, PA-C, were inspirational to Commander (CDR) Marks, helping to shape his educational plans to become a PA.
Funded by his service in the Navy, CDR Ian Marks attended George Washington University, graduating in 2000 with a Master of Science in Health Sciences and a PA graduate certificate. After graduation there was a period of tremendous downsizing for the military, Marks worked as a civilian PA in orthopedic surgery with both private practice and at The University Virginia (UVA). Additionally, working in Emergency Medicine with the University of Maryland and part-time in urgent care during his time in Virginia. While at the UVA, CDR Marks reaffiliated with uniformed services and served with the US Public Health Service active and reserve where he was promoted from Lieutenant (LT) to Lieutenant Commander (LCDR). At the USPHS, CDR Marks served with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Indian Health Service, and the US Coast Guard (CG) where he found his place. After Hurricane Katrina, he was deployed to deliver care, support recovery operations, and on-board numerous CG Cutters (commissioned vessels) at sea which provided care in maritime law enforcement operations. During this time, he was named the recipient of the Charles (C). Everett Koop Award as the outstanding junior officer in the USPHS. Taking a reduction in rank from LCDR to Lieutenant, he accepted a United States Coast Guard Reserve commission joining Port Security Unit (PSU) 309 and later PSUs 305 and 311. During his CG Reserve career he served on active duty in District 9 (the five Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence Seaway and parts of the surrounding states), District 17 (the Alaskan maritime region), overseas in Central Command (CENTCOM), Korea, and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
During his career in orthopedics, CDR Marks led and participated in research and educational leadership activities that were published in the highest journals in the field, which included the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Spine, the Spine Journal, and the European Spine Journal. His educational activities included creating the first educational track for non-physicians at the North American Spine Society (NASS) and the first surgical training labs for surgeons to partner with the PAs they work with at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) lab facilities in partnership with the Hip and Knee Society. The enduring legacy of PAs being a planned component of annual meetings for the AAOS and NASS are a direct result of this activity. CDR Marks has authored chapters and collaborated on several texts in orthopedic surgery which are utilized by PAs and surgeons worldwide. Additionally, while at UVA CDR Marks taught in the School of Medicine teaching first and second year medical students physician exam skills and leading small group sessions.
CDR Marks has been in various leadership positions within the PA profession, including vice president of the PA Orthopedic Society (PAOS), vice president of the Public Health Service Academy of PAs (PHSAPA), chair/member of the AAPA Veterans Caucus scholarship committee, and the AAPA board of directors’ liaison to the AAOS. He is a founding member of the Coast Guard PA Society Board of Directors. Additionally, Marks has served as delegate and chief delegate to the AAPA House of Delegates for the PHSAPA, Veterans Caucus, PAOS and will represent the Coast Guard in the House once they are certified as a full chapter in the AAPA.
CDR Ian Marks has spoken at the AAOS, NASS, AAPA, Virginia Academy of PAs, PAOS CME meetings on topics ranging from spine care to career management and utilization for PAs in orthopedic practice. Additionally, he presented his team’s original research at a Paget’s Disease conference on bone health.
Following his time at the University of Virginia from 2004-2014 nearing what he thought was the end of his CG Reserve career – CDR Marks was offered an active-duty position at Base Los Angeles/Long Beach in 2014. After promotion to Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) in 2015, CDR Marks became senior medical officer for the base clinic. During this time, he deployed on board several CG Cutters and to natural disaster sites, such as Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. He completed his diploma in Command and Staff at the Naval War College in 2016 and trained as a medical planning officer, completing training at Fort Sam Houston, TX, and Little Creek, VA. His next tour was with the Health Safety and Work-Life (HSWL) Service Center as a contingency planner in the Operational Medicine Division in 2019 deploying in support of hurricanes and mass migration events at sea in the Straits of Florida, the Caribbean and on the Southwest border for the Department of Homeland Security. Transitioning to the role of senior PA consultant for the CG Health Safety and Work-Life CDR Marks developed process guidance and supported the PA Force Manager at CG Headquarters with initiatives to grow the PA force as independent providers which led to several PA-run clinics across the service codifying the positions such as senior medical officer he piloted in Los Angeles.
CDR Marks was promoted to Commander in 2023 and is currently serving as the first PA to fill the position of Area Surgeon and Deputy Chief for Operational Medicine. This role has always been held by physicians before assuming this leadership role. As the primary medical advisor to the Commander, Pacific Area, he leads the health services staff supporting all operations by the USCG from the Mississippi River to the Indian Ocean. Frequently collaborating with his counterparts at Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), and Commander in Fleet (CINC) Pacific Fleet Surgeons Offices he is advancing the modernization of operational medicine and leading the expansion of services to meet operational needs for the next generation of CG men and women.
Ian Marks holds the PA Operational Medicine and the Port Security Officer devices. His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Coast Guard Commendation Medal (three awards with operational distinction), Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Coast Guard Achievement Medal (five awards with operational distinction), Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medal (two awards), the Combat Action Ribbon, fourteen expeditionary and service medals, over 20 unit/team awards and numerous sea service, overseas service and good conduct awards.
His incredibly supportive family includes his wife of nearly 30 years Jennifer R. Marks, MD, Chief, Internal Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, and their children Aaron, Kathryn, and Owen Marks. His other “children” include the family tortoise “Boris”, their English Bulldog “Cookie Monster”, and Pittie “Ginger.” He is looking forward to his pending retirement from the USCG in 2026 to Los Angeles, CA, where he will travel, fish, and follow youth baseball while maintaining and meandering about in his restored Land Rover Defender, cooking gourmet meals for his family.
Acknowledgments
This biography was prepared by Robin Hunter-Buskey with the assistance CDR Ian Marks and was submitted to the PA History Society in October, 2025. Photographs are courtesy CDR Marks.
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