On August 18, 2023, 176 first year University of Minnesota Medical Students received their White Coat in a ceremony designed to acknowledge this rite of passage into the field of medicine and inspire learners to embrace this journey with humility and privilege. ABH has been honored to be part of this prestigious ceremony for the past nearly 20 years. ABH President Zeke McKinney, MD, MHI, MPH, welcomed the students into the profession of medicine and shared the power our language can have in shaping our perspectives as well as the health of individual patients and our communities.

Did you know that, according to Rainbow Health Initiative’s 2021 Voices of Health Survey, 13% of LGBTQIA+ respondents in Minnesota were NOT out to their clinical care team? That 57% have had to teach their clinicians about the care they need? And that 23% didn’t get care in the past year because they feared being disrespected or mistreated?  It’s not that we, as clinicians, want that to be the case. We want our patients to feel welcomed in our clinics. We want our patients to feel that their care is competent and informed. It can be a lot to remember everything we need to know to have everyone feel cared for. I get it. So I’m going to take you through some of what we have done and some of what we wish we could do to make all of our patients feel welcome.

On August 12th, ABH had the pleasure of tabling at the second annual Live Your Health Lyfe block party, an event in North Minneapolis designed to elevate the quality of life for residents through mental, physical and spiritual wellness offerings. We always enjoy and are grateful for the opportunity to engage with community members, share resources, and discuss the realities of commercial tobacco.

“Transgender people often face barriers to accessing health care due to a lack of accessible and competent providers,” we were told. The words were framed in such a way that implied an impossibility that “they” could be sitting in the lecture hall alongside us, the medical students. And yet, there I was. And I wasn’t even the only one.

Advocates for Better Health proudly offers a unique and free CME/CE opportunity from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine to Minnesota clinicians and staff.

Healthcare providers play a critical role in protecting and improving the health of communities. In addition to participating in programs that screen for, prevent, and manage a range of health conditions, healthcare providers inform and influence healthcare system policies and practices that affect population health. The Community Guide is a valuable resource for evidence-based intervention approaches that healthcare providers can use to improve health in their communities.  

Face to Face centers its work on building trusting youth-adult relationships because we cannot help young people have better health outcomes if they do not trust us. Read ideas on how to earn the trust of transgender and gender diverse youth from Face to Face Executive Director, Hanna Getachew-Kreusser.

All kids deserve access to inclusive and affirming health care, including and especially transgender and gender-diverse youth and their families. Read Angela Goepfred, MD’s full article for MetroDoctors.

ABH volunteers and staff connected with community members at the 2023 Roseville Juneteenth Celebration.

ABH staff and supporters gathered to celebrate five years of the Public Health Advocacy Fellowship, to present the First a Physician Award to Dr. Sarah Traxler, and to reconnect at the 2023 ABH Spring Social.

The Earth Day tour, led by Community Members for Environmental Justice, brought medical students and other health professionals to several sites of industrial pollution in North Minneapolis.

Join ABH and ABH | The Foundation for our Spring Social on May 16th!

Sarah Traxler, MD, MSHP Honored with 2022 First a Physician Award

On behalf of the Boards of Directors of Advocates for Better Health (ABH) and ABH | The Foundation, society members, and coworkers privileged to work with our cherished colleague Nancy Bauer, we want to wish her a fond farewell as she completes 32 years of service at the end of 2022.