Documentary film on Stan Brock, founder of Remote Area Medical, to show in Oak Ridge Nov. 7

Carolyn Krause
·2 min read

The feature-length documentary film, “Medicine Man: The Stan Brock Story,” will be screened for the public starting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, in the City Room (A-111) in the Coffey-McNally Building on the Oak Ridge Branch Campus of Roane State Community College, 701 Briarcliff Ave.

The screening will be presented by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge (LWVOR), the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning (ORICL) and Iambic Dream Films.

“Medicine Man” tells the story about the life of Stan Brock, British philanthropist, actor, author and founder and president of Remote Area Medical (RAM) from 1985 until his death at age 82. He died from complications of a stroke on Aug. 29, 2018, at RAM headquarters in Rockford, Tennessee.

While in British Guiana, Brock became a pioneer bush pilot, which led to his receiving various certifications, including airline transport pilot. That’s when his vision for a nonprofit Remote Area Medical organization was born as he suffered an accident involving a horse, causing him to be 26 days away on foot from the nearest medical care.

RAM provides pop-up medical clinics around the United States, offering quality dental, vision and general medical care at no cost to patients. One is planned for this weekend, Nov. 2-3, at First Baptist Church in Clinton.

According to the www.ramusa.org website, millions of Americans cannot access medical care because they cannot afford insurance, or if they have insurance, it provides inadequate coverage because of high deductibles, co-pays or limited networks. These Americans live in remote or underserved communities and the health care system there can be challenging to understand and navigate even for insured individuals,

Remote Area Medical founder Stan Brock talks with reporters as supplies for Haitian earthquake victims are loaded onto a DC-3 on Friday, January 15, 2010 at McGhee Tyson Airport. Brock died in 2018. A documentary on his life will be shown at Roane State Community College's Oak Ridge branch campus on Nov. 7.
Remote Area Medical founder Stan Brock talks with reporters as supplies for Haitian earthquake victims are loaded onto a DC-3 on Friday, January 15, 2010 at McGhee Tyson Airport. Brock died in 2018. A documentary on his life will be shown at Roane State Community College's Oak Ridge branch campus on Nov. 7.

Responding to the desperate need of people in the United States lacking access to health care, RAM by the end of last year had enrolled 213,000-plus volunteers in its service corps and treated more than 940,000 individuals, providing more than $200 million in free care.

In recognition of the significant service of Stan Brock and RAM and aware of the critical need to expand access to healthcare in the current day, LWVOR and ORICL have worked with Iambic Films to make a free screening available to the community. Instead of paying admission, guests will be given the opportunity to make a donation to RAM’s ongoing mission.

In addition to the “Medicine Man” film, a brief film updating the healthcare situation in the United States and RAM’s ongoing efforts will be shown. Paul Michael Angell, the film’s producer and director, will speak to attendees from London via live video transmission, and RAM representatives will be present to introduce the film and meet the audience.

Attendees arriving by 6 p.m. will be able to meet RAM representatives and learn more about what their volunteers do at RAM pop-up medical clinics in rural areas. One was held in February 2023 at the Oak Ridge Civic Center.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Documentary on Stan Brock of Remote Area Medical to show in Oak Ridge