Ashley McCaughan

Global Challenge: Unequal Access to Healthcare Worldwide

Abstract:

As a pre-health student entering medical school, I have pursued every opportunity to understand what it truly means to serve patients across diverse and underserved communities. This reflective research paper explores how engineering innovation and empathy-driven medicine can together address the global challenge of unequal access to quality healthcare, in direct alignment with UN SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being. Through biomedical research on orthopedic implants and 3D cell culture systems, medical volunteering in Sri Lanka, clinical internship experience, and leadership in service organizations, I have witnessed firsthand how cost, infrastructure, and cultural barriers limit patient outcomes worldwide.

This paper argues that the most meaningful advances in global health are made not through technology alone, but through compassionate, culturally competent practitioners who understand the human dimensions of healthcare. As I prepare to enter medicine, I am committed to carrying forward the lessons of service and interdisciplinary innovation to help build a more equitable and accessible healthcare system.

Bio:

Ashley is a pre-medical student who studied Biomolecular Science with a minor in Mathematics during her undergraduate years. She is passionate about using her engineering background to make an impact on global healthcare solutions. She has developed analytical and problem-solving skills and applied them to her various experiences in the GLASS program like designing a surface treatment for orthopedic implants at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She expanded her cultural competency with a service trip to Sri Lanka and study abroad in Abu Dhabi, Seoul, Korea, and the Philippines.

During these programs, she has built the foundation to be a changemaker who leads with empathy to create beneficial solutions for global challenges. She is attending medical school after graduation at the University of Mississippi Medical School where she hopes to continue learning in order to give back to her community and provide quality patient-centered care.