Whether caring for people impacted by a hurricane, or children living in orphanages Dr. Marks goes to great lengths to provide compassion and care.

To say that Dr. David Marks is an overachiever is putting it mildly.

His notable accomplishments that he began achieving at age 12 – when he began taking flying lessons – read like a pilot’s check list; so one wonders what drives the 34-year-old physician to reach for the stars.

As CEO of the Pulmonary & Sleep Institute, 540 Madison Oak Drive, Marks is board certified to practice pulmonary medicine, critical care medicine, sleep medicine and internal medicine. He currently is working on obtaining his fifth medical license in palliative and hospice care that he hopes to earn in 2010. “I believe my life purpose is to help society,” he says on a recent Friday afternoon.

Sitting behind his desk after removing his white lab coat, Marks no longer looks the role of authoritative physician. Dressed in a plaid, short-sleeve shirt, jeans and Sketchers, and with his stocky build, the youthful-looking doctor resembles that of a college athlete.

His compassion and empathy for others goes back to his high school days in Sherman, some 60 miles north of Dallas, when instead of paying for a traffic ticket he chose to volunteer for the local fire department, watering shrubs along the highways on weekends.

Later, the then 17-year-old senior tagged along with emergency medical technicians in the ambulance to assist on calls. “Something touched me about the drama and emotions of someone getting sick or injured and helping them,” he says.

It led him to enroll in courses to become an EMT; and by age 18, Marks was saving the lives of many in his community after school. After graduation, he attended Austin College to become a paramedic.

One emergency in particular struck too close to home. He was invited to a Fourth of July party at a friend’s home, but rather than celebrate the occasion, Marks preferred to work. When he received a call for a major accident, he hastened to the scene and had no idea who the injured were inside the wreckage.

“It was two of my friends,” he says. “One of them died. The other was critically injured. They left the party to get more alcohol and got into a head-on collision. Suddenly, I was thrust into this arena, where I had to take care of them, and it was hard. I had to maintain my composure and not get emotional.”

Realizing the impact of the power of medicine, Marks decided to become a doctor and applied for medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio after graduating cum laude with a pre-med degree in 1997 from Austin College. Although he intended to be an ER physician, he changed his mind when the attending physician, Dr. Stephanie Levine, in the IC unit at University Hospital, where he was doing his rotations, suggested he pursue critical care medicine.

“After working with Dr. Marks in the ICU, it was readily apparent that he is extremely bright, dedicated and compassionate toward his patients and their families,” Levine says.

As a pulmonologist, Marks treats people suffering from asthma, emphysema, lung cancer, chronic cough and bronchitis, he says. Sleep medicine involves seeing patients with disorders, such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy, insomnia and sleep eating, as well as those who sleep too much.

Marks, who will go to great lengths – literally – for the benefit of his patients, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, in June 2007. “I wanted to know what it feels like to be short of breath (in order) to know what my patients go through,” he says. “It took seven days to get to the top. Just to get out of my tent to go to the bathroom, I was short of breath.”

In December 2008, Marks approached Kevin Dinnin, president of Baptist Child & Family Services (BCFS), about the possibility of going on a humanitarian mission to Moldova, part of the former Soviet Union, to assist with an orphan relief program to provide children with shoes during the winter. It was coordinated by Children’s Emergency Relief International, the overseas division of BCFS.

In addition to providing winter boots to children at orphanages, Marks did a medical mission at six orphanages, personally seeing about 150 children. He also set up a medical clinic in a remote town for children and adults.

“I brought 80 pounds of medicine in a bag,” Marks says. “They were grateful beyond belief. You appreciate how good we have it here, especially our healthcare. They don’t have CAT scans, computers or technology like we do. It gave me back that ‘one person can make a difference’ attitude.

“Spending two hours in one orphanage made a huge impact on those kids. It gave me a drive to continue to help people with the opportunities that God has given me. I felt very proud to be a doctor and to be an American.”

Marks also was quick to lend a hand during last summer’s hurricanes – Gustav and Ike – that ripped through much of the Texas coastline and forced hundreds of people to flee their homes for safety in the Alamo City. For the first disaster, BCFS set up four shelters at local churches and 12 shelters for evacuees because of Ike. The physician was responsible for the healthcare of those housed at the shelters.

Because of the volume of evacuees that Marks had to see, he rose each day around 4:30 a.m. to make his hospital rounds for his regular patients before heading out to the shelters, which required him to work about 16 hours a day. He also temporarily had to close his office.

“I continued to see patients until all the patients from the special-needs medical shelters were discharged. This took about six weeks from the start to the end,” he says. “I got to talk to people about their experiences and see patients at a time in their lives when a devastating event happened. (And I hope) I provided them some hope and comfort.”

Dinnin says Marks has played an important role in BCFS’ humanitarian missions.

“Whether it’s caring for people who were impacted by a hurricane and had to live in an emergency shelter, or caring for children living in orphanages throughout one of Europe’s poorest countries, David wears his passion for medicine and helping others on his sleeve,” Dinnin says. “Without a doubt, David is a gifted, young doctor. But more than that, he’s a special person who is using his gifts to give back by helping those in need.”

If Marks wasn’t a physician, he would be flying the friendly skies. Having earned his private pilot’s license at age 17 and his commercial multi-engine instrument rated pilot’s license during medical school, he rents a plane from a local aviation school and flies several times a month for short getaways to Corpus Christi, Galveston or Kerrville.

“The science of flying is so fascinating, and I like being in control and seeing this world from above,” he says, adding that he’s also parachuted from an airplane four times.

While his positive outlook on life and interaction with patients keeps Marks grounded, it’s fair to say the sky is the limit in his genuine desire to assist others and all that he pursues.