which time he and his wife, Gloria, had four the Emergency Medicine Interest Group and
children. He said in a 2003 interview that he both today are emergency medicine physicians
vowed to give back to the community because – Bachista in the Jacksonville area and Ho in
without community support he would not have Tallahassee.
gotten through medical school while raising a
family.
Brown served as medical director of the Soutel
Robert L. Brown Sr.
Every year, the College of Medicine recognizes
out to see whether Bachista was willing to
Family Practice Center in Jacksonville, where answer some questions about life as a medical
he was credited with helping to bring a Winn- director in emergency medicine. Kropp was
Dixie grocery store to the neighborhood. The doing a visiting rotation with the University
nearest grocery at that time was several miles of Florida Emergency Medicine Residency
away – long before the coining of the term Program in Jacksonville.
“food desert.”
Brown owned property across the street
Alumni of distinction
Bachista was nominated for the award by
Andrew Kropp (M.D., ’19), who had reached
The result was a 12-hour ride-along, and
insight into Bachista’s contributions as a
from his office. He leased it to Winn-Dixie physician, mentor, teacher and confidant for
and the store opened in 1996. Every year he patients, medical residents and paramedics. He
organized a community appreciation day in the serves as medical director of St. Johns County
Distinguished Alumni Award winners during store’s parking lot, which included free health Fire Rescue, responsible for its work across an
the White Coat Ceremony, holding up their screenings. 822-square-mile area. In 2018, Bachista was
work as an example to the newest class of
medical students.
We encourage you to nominate those PIMS
Bachista was one of 30 students admitted
named statewide winner of the Raymond H.
for the first class of the new FSU College of Alexander, M.D., EMS Medical Director of the
Medicine. He and classmate Alex Ho started Year Award.
or College of Medicine alumni who you believe
deserve this honor. Nominations are presented
to the FSU Medical Alumni Board, which
selects the winners during its spring meeting.
Send your nomination letter to FSU Medical
Alumni, 1115 W. Call St., Tallahassee, FL
32306-4300; or attach your nomination letter
in an email to [email protected].
This year’s honorees are Robert L. Brown
Sr., M.D. (PIMS ’81), who is being honored
posthumously, and Kerry Bachista (M.D.,
’05), a member of the College of Medicine’s
inaugural class.
Brown is being recognized for his work as
a family physician in an impoverished and
medically underserved neighborhood in
Jacksonville before his death in 2005 at age 55.
He grew up as one of 10 children on his father’s
farm in Quitman, Georgia, earned a degree in
zoology at Fort Valley State College in 1972 and
then joined the Army.
He entered the PIMS program in 1980, by
Kerry Bachista
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