McLaughlin was Born in Boston, Massachusetts; moved as a child to SLC (my father's hometown) in 1965; returned to Massachusetts for college in 1974, graduating in 1978 from Wellesley College; (in Biology) ; Worked in Boston for 3 years, then entered U of U Medical School in 1981; Graduated in 1985 and entered Internal Medicine training at the University Medical Center. Since finishing that program in 1988 have been in private practice with the Memorial Medical Center (now an IHC facility), later Medical Associates of Salt Lake, and most recently, with Iasis Healthcare; She was married for 33 years so far to an electrical engineer and have 3 sons ages 20-27, all of whom are pursuing careers in engineering and physics.