[captioning made possible by kcet public television] >> good evening from los angeles. i'm tavis smiley. while americans debate the future of health care in this country, one man continues to put matters into his own hands. ston brock is the founder of a free mobile health care clinic known as remote area medical. initially designed to provide free care to third world countries, stan brock now concentrates on those in need here in the u.s. at a recent stop hearing in los angeles, thousands lined up for hours just for the chance to see a doctor. also tonight, former "gilmore girls" star alexis bledel is here.

she stars in a new comedy about life after college called "post grad." the movie opened in theaters around the country earlier today. we're glad you've joined us. remote area medical founder stan brock and actress alexis bledel cupping up right now. >> there are so many things that wal-mart is looking forward to doing. like helping people live better. but mostly, we're looking forward to helping build stronger communities and relationships. because of your help, the best is yet to come. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports "tavis smiley." tavis and nationwide insurance, working to improve financial literacy and the economic empowerment that comes with it. >> nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

tavis: in 1985, stan brock founded remote area medical known as ram, a nonprofit organization designed to provide free health care to third world countries. in 1992 he decided to turn his attention to people in need here in the u.s. particularly those living in rural areas. recently r.a.m. set up shop here in los angeles. its first ever stop in a major urban area and the turnout was staggering. stan brock, i'm honored to have you on the program. >> thank you very much. tavis: let me start by asking the obvious, how did you find your way to los angeles? why l.a.? >> well, we've actually done 566 of these operations before we came to l.a. and we only go where we're invited and so an invitation came from some folks in los angeles, mr. jerry moss,

as a matter of fact, who said, you know, i saw the piece on "60 minutes" and we need the help out here, would you consider bringing the team? so we put it on the schedule and we're privileged to be here and offer some help. tavis: so you were in englewood, for those who were sports fans, they were set up in the parking lot of what's known as the farm where the lakers used to play when mag and -- -- magic and worthy and cooper were winning those championships at the farm. so you set up at the farm in ingelwood outside of l.a. and what happened when the door, so to speak, opened up? >> well, we spent the whole day lafert monday setting up all the equipment, 100 dental chairs and 20 lanes of eye exam equipment and facilities for general medical treatment and our mobile vehicles for making eyeglasses on the spot and that night we handed out 1,500 numbers. and of course there were more than 1,500 people there. so we stopped the count at

1,500 and then at 5:30 in the morning on tuesday morning, we started calling out numbers and bringing them in. tavis: and when all was said and done you saw over 8,000 people in, what, two or three days? >> actually, we saw over 8,000 patient encounters. that means that many of the people who came in that got to see the dentist and got their teeth fixed and then they went to see another doctor and they got their eyes fixed and we made them a pair of glasses. we've already made over 1,000 payers of glasses -- payers of -- payers of glasses and pulled a few bad teeth out as well. something like 260 women are lined up for mammograms. so there's a lot of good been done over there. we've had some wonderful volunteers from the state of california, but unfortunately the laws in the united states are very restrictive from state

to state and we were not allowed to bring in volunteer physicians and dentists from other states and actually that's the greatest impediment that we face anywhere in the united states to providing free care is that doctors are not allowed to cross state lines, except in one state, tennessee, where in 1995 they changed the law and so now we get california practitioners coming all the way to tennessee at their own expense to provide free health care. tavis: how much bigger do you think what happened in l.a. would have been if you could have had more volunteer doctors and others to staff it, which means you u uld have seen more people? >> oh, without a doubt we would have seen twice the number. i mean, let's not underestimate the value of those thousands of people that have had their care. i'm absolutely delighted. i wish we could have seen more and had the law been flexible enough to allow us to bring in extra help we would have filled every dental chair and every

eye lane and we would have seen probably twice as many people. tavis: you have said that it was not your intent nor is it your motive to get called -- caught up in the health care debate. you're not trying to make a political statement here. you're trying to serve people in need, which i totally get. but what does it say to you though about the state or lack thereof of health care in this country when you set up shop and by the thousands folks show up for free care? >> well, you know, a long time ago during the height of world war ii, 1944, the british government, which was a bipartisan government in those days at the height of the war, and there were 49.7 million britains on the island of which there was a big problem with the lack of health care during that terrible time. and so the bipartisan government said, we're going to have universal health care in

this country and mr. beven, the minister of health, was ordered to make it happen. fast forward now, 66 years, and you've probably got about the same number of people as we had in britain at the height of the war, another 47 million, 49 million people, and they don't have access to health care, they simply can't afford it. the big question, tavis, is whether or not the government is able to come to an agreement with with all the various interests and groups, unlike britain where it was a bipartisan government during the war, and do something for this 47 million, 49 million people that need the help. tavis: how do you personally process, stan brock, starting r.a.m., starting this project, to see people in under- or undeveloped, third world, parts

of the word and you start serving people in the united states? >> yes, and if you take a photograph of what we do as many people have and put it in a magazine in black and white, you really can't tell the difference between what we're doing here in the united states without reading the copy than what we're doing in a place like guatemala. i just wish that we could concentrate all of our efforts on places like zimbabwe and haiti and the other places that we have traditionally gone to. but we've had to cut back on those overseas programs because, you know, we live here, this is our home, and even though i'm british by birth and still carry a british passport, i'm proud to live in this country and we have to take care of the home front first -- first. tavis: as you have traveled around the world, i don't mean to make you political but i'm curious as to your point of view, there's been such a great debate about what we don't have access to health carewise in this country and all kinds of comparisons in this debate in

other countries. is there a particular system that you've seen that you think works best for delivering health care? >> well, none of them are perfect. i mean, at the moment the national health service in england has some problems in their dentistry and in fact we've had some invitations to go to britain to help out with the dental issue and we would dealer love to do that. there are plenty of volunteers here who would be delighted to go over and help with that. we know how to run the system and see houses of people in a short -- thousands of people in a short space of time. but again as we cannot cross state lines here in the united states, also we're not allowed to take these fine american and canadian dentists over to england. if we can sort of resolve this issue that keeps coming up about these highly qualified doctors and dentaltivities and so forth and allow them -- dentists it's an so forth and

allow them the flexibility of going to different places, it would be to the benefit of millions of people that they're finding it hard to keep up with their health care programs. tavis: let me rewind to the beginning of r.a.m. this wonderful project. how did this idea come to be? tell me about the origins of this, how it all started. >> it has its roots in the amazon basin. i was asked that question about five weeks ago, having breakfast with the sixth man to walk on the moon, ed mitchchl. he asked the same question. and i said, with well, i was a young cowboy on the northern border of brazil and i got badly injured by a wild horse and i'm lying thunderstorm wild horse kicking and thrashing about and and others came running over and pulled me out from underneath and said, well, the nearest doctor is 26 days on foot from here. by that time i got the inspiration for bringing those doctors a little bit closer but when i said that, the

astronaut, ed mitchell, said, gosh, i was on the moon and i was only three days from the nearest doctor. and i said, well, you know, for the people that we're expecting to see in los angeles and those thousands that we've seen in the past, you know, if it wasn't for these wonderful volunteers that are donating their services, they might as well be on the moon or in the northern amazon basin. because they simply don't have acacss to the care they need. tavis: do you keep and if not, is it by design to not keep any data on the people that you see? do you have any kind of demographic data on who you're seeing? by race, color, ethnic origin, by age? any data at all? >> you know, we keep a medical record that we compile on all of the people that we see. just because it's good medicine. we try to provide the same standard of care that you would get if you were in somebody's office. what we don't do and what the public really like is that to

qualify for one of our services all you have to do is show up. we don't ask any questions about, you know, where are you from? are you illegal or legal or do you have a job or not a job? it's first come, first serve. and the public really like that. but, of course, the wait is very, very long. but it's self-regulating. in other words, if you could avoid -- afford the service, you probably would not be waiting there in line to get it free. tavis: i'm curious to the extent you're going to share with me, tell me about your life. the story of the horses is a fascinating story and i understand how you got into this. but who is stan brock? who are you, what -- beyond r.a.m., what's your life like? what do you do every day? >> well, this is all i do. 365 days a year. we're conducting operations.

in in this all volunteer force. i can identify with the people that we're trying to help because i've been homeless and i've been penniless and still penniless actually and so we have to help people overcome those disadvantages that many of us are dealt. so that's really the whole philosophy of the 42,000 odd volunteers that we've had in the field and the good folks that we have over there at the forum this week in los angeles. after they've had the treatment, the patients come up to the doctor and they hug the doctor, even though they may have a mouth full of gauze because they've had all their bad teeth taken out. they're so grateful and it's just wonderful working with them. tavis: i've read to the extent you're comfortable confirming this that you live a pretty meager, pretty simple life. >> well, of course, you know i

lived with the indians for all those years in the amazon and so i, you know, if i have to miss a couple of meals for a day or two, it's no hardship because that's the way it was. so the simple life and throw a mat on the floor and wherever are you -- you are it's just the way things are when you have that kind of an upbringing. tavis: what does stan brock get for this love and service to humanity? what do you get out of it? >> well, what i get out of it, tavis, is that every time we do one of these and we've done 567, you can't walk out of the premises, wherever we're holding it, whether it's under a tent or in a canoe somewhere, without people coming up and saying, gosh, i'm glad you came, whether they're speaking english or some foreign

language, gosh, i'm glad you came because i really needed this. and it made a big difference for me and that's wonderful. the downside, of course, is that we can't see everybody and so on the last day of these things there will always be those people that come up to you in the end and, you can just do one more? you can't do everybody. and so that's the sad part of the whole thing. tavis: it's a fascinating life, stan brock -- life stan brock lives. i asked about his service and love to everyday people. the depth of your love for everyday people and the quality of your service to them. the depth of his love and quality of his services is quite evident in this r.a.m. project that we've been seeing all across the country that has taken place here in l.a. with thousands of people being seen and helped for their medical concerns. stan brock, an honor to meet you. i'm delighted to have you on this program.

>> thank you for the privilege. tavis: thank you for the opportunity. up next, former "gilmore girls" star, alexis bledel. stay with us. alexis bledel is an actress that starred for years on "gilmore girls." her new project is a new film called "post grad." here now seen from "post grad" -- here now a scene from "post grad." >> belt buckles. they're going crazy on the internet. who do you think met a distributor who's going to start his own company? >> but, dad, what about the luggage shack? they just made you regional manager. >> you have to think big picture here. you got to have vision. you got to see that -- and since none of this other crap is working out for you, more than likely you're going to need a vice president. v.p.

you go out there and drum up some business. let's go out there and put some buckles on belts. what do you say? tavis: glad to have you here. when i first saw the project, of course the scene we saw a moment ago was with you and michael keaton but what a lineup, carroll burnett. >> and dan lynch. michael keaton. they all play my very eccentric family. my character has to move back home when she's not getting a job and they're each so perfect for the roles and for the little i had yo sinksies that are supposed to come out. they're great. tavis: what kind of charge do you get, my word not yours, what kind of charge does one get when you get a chance to work -- keaton's been around for a long time. we know him from "batman," carroll burnett is a legend, no doubt about that. what does an actor get when one gets to play opposite that kind of cast? the >> i get really excited.

i want to learn what i can from them. but mostly i just feel lucky to get to share the screen with them and bring some characters to life and it's just great. it's such fun. because they've -- i heen, like watching michael keaton work, he's been doing it so long and he's so lovely to everyone onset. there's so much to learn. i love it. tavis: but never intimidation, though? >> i mean, sometimes, you know, i knew carroll burnett from the musical "annie." i grew up watching that and she's the very scary to a child, ms. hannigan. the character she plays. she's terrifying. and she's just so brilliant in the role because she's hilarious, she's -- her character is completely drunk the whole time. and she's singing and -- but she's also terrifying. just really a terrifying personality. so when i met her, she's the

sweetest lady. i think i was a little maybe intimidated more from the character i think. tavis: there's a pretty interesting learning curve for your character. >> yes. tavis: gaining herself in fact. i'll let you explain the character. >> she basically starts out very, you know, planned out everything in her life. you know, it's planned, she knows how she wants it to go, she knows where she wants to work, where she wants to be in 10 years, i wouldn't be surprised. so she starts out on her journey, graduating from college, and basically nothing, nothing goes as planned. so she basically just hits rock bottom am and has to learn how to build herself back up with an open mind and learn how to entertain different possibilities for herself and think outside the box. tavis: parallels to your life or no parallel at all? in terms of planning things

out, wanting things to go a certain way. are you that methodical? >> not at all. i don't really plan much. i'll plan my day a little bit so i don't forget to do things but i really -- i go with the flow, completely. i sort of stumbled into acting, kind of -- when i was going to school in new york and i knew i was interested in film. i was in film school, but that was kind of an after thought. it all kind of just came to me. i really believe in just following what you instinctively feel and then just working hard once you're, you know, in a position that feels right. tavis: you say you stumbled into acting. for you that means what? i ask that of you because i always find it funny and curious at the same time when people who end up being really good at their craft say i just stumbled into this. i hate people like you. stuff just kind of happens and they end up being good at it. >> i had sort of modeled in new

york since the age of 14 and when i went to n.y.u. i had an agent that was starting to set me out on adugses i -- auditions, they were sending all the girls out. so i was in film school and heard from one of the other girls that she was taking an acting class where a film student was allowed to sort of film the classes, like do the camerawork, and then the acting students could watch their scenes back. so i did that, i signed up to work the camera and i just found myself watching their scenes and getting my own ideas about how i would maybe do the scenes in my own way and so then when i would go on these addition -- auditions, i got to try out my ideas and that's how it happened. tavis: so your friend hates you now. >> no, she's very sweet. she's do great, actually. tavis: you invite your friend to class to film you and she

ends up being on the gilmore girlsed. you look back on those "gilmore girls" days now and think what? retrospect is >> so much of it is a blur. the first couple of years are just such a blur because i was learning so much and we just had to memorize so many words that that was mostly what was going on in my head for many, many years, those lines. but i see it so differently now. at the time i felt like, i was so busy, i just didn't know what to think and now i just appreciate it so much because it was, i mean it's rare that a show goes on for so long and that it's beloved boyoys many people. so i just feel so blessed at this point. tavis: blessed is one side which is a beautiful thing, to feel blessed with a project, the flipside to that in this business is being type cast. i get the sense are you being allowed to move beyond that. you don't feel burdened by that past? how long it ran?

>> it's funny, because it was so long i sometimes will fall into bad habits and i try very hard to break or -- into an old comfortable way of reading lines that feels like that character. so it's a conscious effort to try to change that. and i think it takes a lot of time for an yudyens to see an actor differently than a tv character that they love. so i'm sure it will just take time but i try to definitely look for different sorts of roles just for my own education. tavis: there is a certain level of discipline that one has to have to be a successful model. even though you were doing it as a young person, were there things you took from that part of your career, that work for you, that was transferble to the acting? >> yes, there is a certain amount of focus that you have to have to get good shots and to sort of maintain yourself, keep yourself healthy, even though you're supposed to be quite thin. and while there were negative

things i heard during that time when i was 16 and they would say, my agent or someone would tell me that i needed to lose weight or something, i just kind of blocked out anything negative that i would hear and would focus on the positives. the fact that i was working, i couldn't work more because i was in high school as well. so i think that was actually a good skill to develop, to sort of block out the negative to a certain extent and just hear it, but then kind of move forward without it. tavis: and finally, i'm fascinated by -- even though it's not like you spent years doing this, but i'm fascinated by what you learned filming other people ininhe acting class before you got into it yourself. was it there something you gained from being on the other side of the camera before you got on the front side of it? >> i think so. i only did it a couple times but i think i sort of noticed when somebody was very aware of what they were doing on camera. and i kind of always

appreciated when a person would get a little bit lost in the scene and forget themselves. so i think that's what stuck with with me the most. tavis: "post grad" is the new film starring alexis bledel, formerly of the "gilmore girls." nice to have you on. all the best on the project. >> thank you so much. tavis: my pleasure. that's our show for tonight. catch me on public radio international. you can access it on our pod or our website. thanks for watching and as always, keep the figit -- faith. ñ >> for more information on today's show, visit "tavis smiley" at pbs.org. >> hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversation with oscar-winning thrill maker quinton tarantino. that's next time.

see you then. >> there's so many things that wal-mart is looking forward to doing. like helping people live better. but mostly, we're looking forward to helping build stronger communities and relationships because with your help the best is yet to come. >> nationwide insurance proudly supports "tavis smiley." tavis and nationwide insurance, working to improve financial literacy and the economic empowerment that comes with it. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

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