MD grad follows family footsteps and gets married same day

May 10 was a remarkable day not only for Marcus Rossi but also for his entire family.

On that day, he walked down the aisle of the Peoria Civic Center to receive his Doctor of Medicine degree. A few hours later, he walked down the aisle of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church to marry Virginia Pastorek in front of more than 200 family and friends.

The youngest in a family of nine children, Rossi is the seventh of his siblings to receive an MD degree and the sixth to earn that degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria.

His family's legacy of physicians spans three generations. It started with his grandfather, the late Dr. Lawrence Rossi Sr., and continued with his parents, Dr. Thomas Rossi and Dr. Janice Takata Rossi.

Standing in the hallway at the Peoria medical school, Rossi spoke with pride of following in his family's footsteps. He pointed to his siblings' photos among those of previous classes: Michael Rossi (MD '09), Daniel Rossi (MD '14), Maria Rossi (MD '16), Douglas Rossi (MD '17) and Monica Rossi Meyer (MD '18). Not pictured is brother David Rossi, who earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Rush University in 2021.

"They're my biggest role models and also my biggest competitors," Rossi said. "I'm very thankful for our parents and all the support they've given to me and my siblings."

Growing up with parents who are doctors and seeing the education and training of his siblings made his pursuit of medicine easier, he said.

"I've witnessed them all in rewarding and fulfilling careers with a patient-first mentality. My grandfather sparked it for us, and it was a domino effect," he said.

Rossi said he grew up viewing medicine as more than a career but never felt pressured to enter the profession. His dad told him, "You have to do what makes you happy."

Growing up in Morton, Illinois, just 10 miles across the Illinois River from Peoria, the Rossi siblings cited the proximity to home as a major selling point of Peoria's regional medical school campus. Their father and his surgery colleagues were faculty physicians at University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria.

While Rossi is the seventh among his brothers and sisters to enter the field of medicine, he is the first to pursue the specialty of dermatology. He'll begin his residency in a few weeks, starting with a transition year in Chicago before moving to Madison, Wisconsin, to complete his training.

- Susan Grebner, University of Illinois College of Medicine