Marek K. Dobke, MD

Between worlds. Between voices. One truth.

A plastic surgeon. A Polish émigré. A witness to what power does inside institutions — and what desire does between two strangers on the Aegean. Two books. One uncompromising voice.

A Novel

PURGATORY

MAREK DOBKE, MD AND RACHEL BROWN-BA

Purgatory

Chris’s voice is Marek’s. Alexandra’s belongs to someone else.

A divorced American physician escapes to Bodrum, Turkey. A Colombian woman travels alone. Two first-class seats at Chicago O’Hare — and everything that follows. The same story told from two entirely different sides. Neither version the whole truth.

Dirty Academia

What they never taught you about the institution that employs you.

From the Gdańsk Medical Academy under Nazi occupation to the corridors of UC San Diego — a reckoning with the machinery inside academic medicine. Loyalty engineered. Careers dismantled. The men who get away with it for decades.

Author

A surgeon who learned that all institutions carry a wound they won't show you.

Marek K. Dobke is a plastic surgeon, researcher, and writer whose life has spanned continents, ideologies, and operating theatres. Born in communist Poland and educated at the Medical Academy of Gdańsk — one of Europe’s oldest medical schools — he emigrated to the United States in 1981.

A Professor of Plastic Surgery at UC San Diego and Faculty at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, now retired from both, he has led programs shaping the field over five decades. With 120+ peer-reviewed articles and books, he specializes in facial rejuvenation, reconstructive breast surgery, and stem-cell based procedures. He continues to work as an independent private practitioner.

His writing channels the same precision as his surgery – and none of the same politeness. Non-fiction that names what historically institutions do when they believe no one is watching.

His writing channels the same precision as his surgery — and none of the same politeness. Fiction that captures desire and self-reinvention. Nonfiction that names what institutions do when they believe no one is watching.

“Orwellian humor mixed with Solzhenitsyn-like academic experience — profound reflections on totalitarianism, hypocrisy, corruption, and the need to preserve truth in academic life.”

Years in Medicine

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Published Works

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Books

Continents Lived

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Chris · Chapter 1 · Marek K. Dobke

When I returned home at 2 am from a weeklong business trip and my wife’s welcome words were “why did you turn on the lights?” — those words exploded in my head.

Our divorce was settled within a few months. No major fights. When I left my wife’s attorney’s office and signed all papers I took a deep breath outside.

A trip somewhere into solitude and self-discovery was supposed to be the new beginning. I decided to go to Turkey.

— Purgatory, Chapter 1

Chris is a divorced plastic surgeon — precise, self-aware, quietly searching. Dobke writes him from the inside.

Alexandra · Chapter 3 · Another Voice

“Alexandra,” he said, using my full name as if testing its weight.

At some point, he asked why my friends called me Alex.

“Because Alexandra sounds like someone who has to behave,” I said.

“And Alex?”

“Alex can leave early, speak directly, and order whatever she wants.”

He looked at me for a long moment. “Welcome to Turkey, Alex.”

— Purgatory, Chapter 3

Alexandra's chapters come from another hand entirely — a voice that chose to let the work speak for itself.

Preface · Dirty Academia

On February 16, 2024, I received an email from Dr. Bryan Clary, Chair of the Department of Surgery at UC San Diego, asking if I would have time to meet with him.

Sitting in a wheelchair being pushed by my wife, I entered his office. He did not waste time.

“Marek, as you know, in November you were investigated for alleged misconduct…”

I was in disbelief. I asked if I could read the report.

“No. It’s the policy of the University.”

— Dirty Academia, Preface

What happens when fifty years of observation can no longer be held back.

Which book is calling you?.

Both books explore power, desire, and the distance between what people say and what they mean — from entirely different directions. Five questions. One answer.

Question 1 of 5

You're alone at an airport with three hours to spare. What do you do?

Question 2 of 5

What do you believe about institutions — hospitals, universities, governments?

Question 3 of 5

A stranger across the room is watching you. You:

Question 4 of 5

The most dangerous thing in a story is:

Question 5 of 5

If you could read over someone's shoulder on a flight, you'd choose:

Your book is

Explore this book →

Preface · Dirty Academia

On Calling It Dirty — and Why the Polite Word Was Never an Option

Why “dirty”? Because “institutional complexity” is exactly the language that lets the people inside institutions avoid being held accountable.

May 2026 Marek K. Dobke

On Purgatory

On Writing a Character Who Is — and Isn't — You

Chris is a plastic surgeon. Divorced. Headed to Turkey. I know that terrain. But fiction isn’t memoir, and the gap between the two is where the interesting work happens.

April 2026 Marek K. Dobke

Writing Process

What Oppenheimer Taught Me About Telling My Own Story

Watching the film while recovering from surgery, I understood something I had been circling for years — the best way to tell the truth about a system is to put a person at its centre.

March 2026 Marek K. Dobke

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"This is better than Clancy, Forsythe, MacLean or Brown ever imagined. You need a better opening to draw in a reader — the rest of it is already there."

UC San Diego Faculty Colleague · On an early draft of Dirty Academia

"The book not only entertains but more importantly educates and serves as a warning for students and for those who wish to pursue lifelong academic careers."

Editorial Endorsement · Dirty Academia

120+ peer-reviewed articles & books

Published Works

UC San Diego · Rutgers NJ Medical

Academic Institutions

Gdańsk, Poland → La Jolla, CA

Background

978-1-963251-67-2

ISBN · Dirty Academia

For press, publishing and everything else.

Marek welcomes inquiries from literary agents, publishers, journalists, medical professionals, and readers. Speaking engagements and academic presentations available on request.

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