Hailey Baker is a second-year medical student at the University of Minnesota Medical School-Duluth Campus. She was raised in the interior Alaska and is from a long bloodline of Cherokee nurses. She aspires to be an Obstetrics and Gynecology specialist with a research focus on birthing care in rural and Indigenous communities.

“My peers and mentors have encouraged my development as a community advocate, and I hope to make a difference in the health disparities affecting Native people, such as the higher rates of maternal mortality and morbidity and the prevalent barriers to care.”

Hailey’s community health project is to deepen her servitude to the American Medical Association-Medical Student Section Committee on American Indian Affairs (AMA-MSS CAIA) by sharing resolutions regarding national policy issues affecting Native peoples. The goal is requiring the American Medical Association to show up for Native issues, which has not been done in the past.