Cuban Immigrant Miguel Machado is New President of Florida Medical Association

A St. Augustine physician was named the new president of the Florida Medical Association on Saturday.

Miguel A. Machado was installed as the 135th president of the influential group during the FMAs annual meeting and medical expo in Orlando.

With more than 20,000 members, the FMA is an active contributor to political campaigns and an influential force in Tallahassee, where it successfully lobbied the 2011 Legislature for tort reform and higher Medicaid reimbursement rates.

Machado, who emigrated to Miami from Cuba when he was 14 years old, earned his medical degree from the University of Zaragoza (Spain) in 1977 and completed a surgical internship at Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore. He then completed his neurosurgical residency at the University of Maryland hospital in Baltimore in 1985.

I look forward to leading the FMAs efforts to make Florida a better place to practice medicine throughout the next year, said Machado, who served in several leadership positions at the association. In 2007, he received the Certificate of Merit, the FMAs highest honor.

Machado succeeds Madelyn Butler, who said, Dr. Machado is a passionate leader and will serve the FMA well as we continue our work to make Florida the best state in the nation for physicians to practice medicine and patients to receive care.