Advocacy Champions

MMA recognizes Advocacy Champions every month.

Learn about our current champion, as well as our past champions, listed to the right.

January 2025 Advocacy Champion

Katie McLaughlin, JD

Fourth-Year Medical Student
University of Minnesota Medical School

1) Why is being an advocate so important to you?
I believe in the right of every person to reach their full potential and enjoy their highest quality of life, and I view access to healthcare and other human services as fundamental to uplifting that right. So, to me, the roles of “physician” and “advocate” are inextricably intertwined. Proud to have grown up and now live on the Iron Range in rural northern Minnesota, I have always looked up to the physicians in our community who care for others in their times of greatest need, whether in or outside of the healthcare setting. Now as a medical student, I strive to do the same for my future patients and for our communities. To meet them where they are at, see and value them for the entire person they are, and walk alongside individual patients and an entire community in their journey toward their highest potential and quality of life.

2) What health-care related issue(s) have you advocated for over the past year?
My heart is in serving rural, underserved, and other marginalized communities. Much of the time I have been privileged to spend engaging with the community and advocating over these past few years has centered on helping to address the health needs of people who experience homelessness. I have had the joy of working alongside a team of brilliant, energetic medical students, along with an extraordinary MMA team and community members, as part of the MMA Medical Student Section’s Street Medicine Initiative. Together, we’re developing street medicine and outreach activities along with curricular and training opportunities. Our Section has also advanced policy related to supporting recuperative care. Additionally, as a student representative on the MMA Policy Council, I am so lucky to learn from the incredible physicians who serve on the Policy Council and, together, we have worked on policy covering a variety of issues that will hopefully improve the health of all Minnesotans.

Beyond this, having started medical school on the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Duluth campus, throughout my medical education I have been incredibly fortunate to have opportunities to learn and develop as an advocate for the health of rural communities. Serving as a “mentor” - truly just as a partner and resource - to others interested in pursuing the health professions has been a form of advocacy that is incredibly meaningful to me.

Finally, with a background in law, access to civil legal services as a determinant of health and healing is something I believe in wholeheartedly, and I have been fortunate to advocate for access to civil legal services as well as to provide some of those services myself as a volunteer attorney.

3) What advice would you offer to others who are interested in advocacy?
I am a firm believer that the only way to effectively create positive change is to do so together. Moreover, I believe that each and every person has something important and meaningful to share as an advocate for and with the communities and causes that matter most to them. So, my #1 piece of advice would be to follow your heart and get involved! Just like in the healthcare setting, often the most important thing we can do is listen. So, start there, and take it one day and one step at a time.

If you are able, attending Physicians’ Day at the Capitol on February 19, 2025, is a great way to start! Otherwise, do not hesitate to reach out to your colleagues or your team at the MMA, share your interests, and find your people. Advocacy is a team sport, and I feel so fortunate to have found an advocacy and community engagement home with the extraordinary people in the MMA. Together, alongside our patients and communities, we truly can make a difference!