Welcome to the Evolving Man Project’s “Evolved Man of the Week” profile. Each week, we will highlight famous and non-famous individuals who embody what it means to be an evolved man. The world needs to know their stories and deeds. This week’s honor goes to the U.S. Army Veteran, New Jersey native, and medical doctor Saul Bautista.
Saul Bautista was born and raised in Newark, NJ. As a child, he loved science growing up and wondered what it would be like to be a doctor. But during his childhood in Newark, as the son of working-class Dominican parents, he didn’t know anyone who looked like him who was a physician. It was a reach he didn’t think was possible at the time.
Life happened, and his parents split. Saul had to step up and help his family with their financial responsibilities, so he joined the U.S. Army. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant and worked as an Army medic. He had an epiphany after providing medical services to a wounded soldier who was the only surviving member of his unit after an IED attack in Iraq.
He realized that the soldier had been getting medical attention, but no one asked the soldier about his mental state. Sual realized that being a medic was more than providing health care treatment. It was a holistic approach Sual took with his patients. He realized that physical, mental, and life factors contribute to an individual’s health.
By the age of 29, Saul finally found himself in medical school. During his residency, Saul was at odds with his superiors. His superiors said he’d been spending far too long with his patients. Saul was paying attention to each patient’s overall health and mental state. Learning his patient’s history, lifestyle choices, and mental health status. It helped him make better-informed decisions about how to best treat his patients by knowing the big picture of each of his patients and what led them to his office. He learned that, like the wounded soldier he treated back in Iraq, all patients want to be heard and treated with respect.
At 37 years old, Saul is the director of medical education and community engagement at Ethos Farm Project, a nonprofit organization developing the world’s first farm-based healthcare system. He practices lifestyle medicine, a specialty that treats, reverses, and prevents chronic disease by taking a whole-person approach to care.
Saul’s unorthodox and thorough approach to medicine has garnered him much recognition. Saul Bautista received the Donald A. Pegg Lifestyle Medicine Student Leadership Award from ACLM. He also received the Trailblazer Award from the Student National Medical Association in 2019 at New Jersey Medical School. He was also one of the finalists for the Men’s Health Magazine 2023 Ultimate Guy Awards.
Saul Bautista’s views on health and wellness are still evolving. He’s put his lessons from the combat field, life, and practice to work to help improve the health and wellness of his patients and his community. Saul’s path to improving others’ health and mental state starts with him. Today, we honor Saul Bautista as our Evolved Man of the Week.
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