Update |

Meet Our Advocates: Dr. Hillary McLaren (she/her/hers)

Where do you call home?
Neenah, WI

What’s your specialty or area of expertise?
Obstetrics and gynecology

What first inspired you to become a doctor?
I wanted to become a doctor because I fell in love with reproductive health during a college course. I learned a great deal about how a person’s ability to control their reproductive future can impact the course of their life.

What advice do you have for medical students and residents wanting to incorporate advocacy into their day-to-day?
Don’t be afraid to use your expertise. While you may be new to advocacy, you have spent a great deal of your time learning about health care.

What current policy issue especially motivates you to be an advocate?
Because I come from a rural area, I am alarmed by how the reproductive lives of rural Americans are being impacted. Regulations on reproductive health clinics leading to their closures are disproportionately impacting these communities.

How have the events of the past few years shaped how you view being a physician advocate?
Our communities are seeking information about a myriad of health topics and they are going to get it one way or another. To be of service to our communities, we must use our training to give the most factual and accurate information because many other sources are not doing so.

What is bringing you joy these days?
The promise of the future. The pandemic has helped me to refocus on the things that I most value and I hope to continue to center those things moving forward.

Our Meet Our Advocates series showcases the talents and passion of one of our doctors and finds out, in their own words, what inspires them to be physician advocates. Hillary McLaren, MD is a current Fellow in our Leadership Training Academy Class of 2022. Dr. McLaren practices obstetrics and gynecology in Illinois.

Read more interviews from the Meet Our Advocates series.