Investing in education is key to improving future healthcare

My wife, Jill, who is gene-positive with Huntington’s disease (HD), and I often talk about what we owe the future stewards of the healthcare system. It weighs on us as a family affected by a rare disease.

When you spend a lot of time in doctors’ offices and waiting rooms, you start to realize how many people and how much training it takes to keep one person healthy. None of that happens by accident. It happens because someone decided that educating and supporting healthcare professionals was worth the cost.

When our gene-positive daughter, Alexus, was applying to college, she took it seriously. True to her organized nature, she made a spreadsheet listing the pros and cons of each option.

She didn’t just look at rankings or glossy brochures. She checked out what each place would ask of her and what it would give in return. In the end, she chose the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — not just because it was prestigious, but because it offered her the most financial help of any school she visited, including state schools. She understood that education comes with a price tag, and she wanted to be wise about how she carried it.

Recommended Reading

July 27, 2026 Columns by Carlos Briceño

It’s time to start fixing our country’s gaps in healthcare access

That experience changed how I think about healthcare education. Tuition, exams, residency, and ongoing training all require time and money. If we want clinicians who understand rare diseases like Huntington’s, who stay current on research and have the bandwidth to really listen, then we have to accept that their education is not just a private investment. It is a public one.

So what does responsibility look like in practical terms?

Advocating for a better future

To me, it means recognizing that, when we hope for fair reimbursement, better staffing ratios, and mental health support for clinicians, we are not just being kind to them. We are protecting our own future care. Overworked providers cannot deliver the thoughtful, patient‑centered medicine that complex conditions like HD require.

It also means understanding that discussions about funding medical schools, loan forgiveness programs, and scholarships are not abstract budget debates. They are choices about who will be sitting across from us in the clinic 10 or 20 years from now. Will it be someone who feels valued and supported, or someone who is drowning in debt and forced to rush through each visit to stay afloat?

Watching Alexus pick a college reminded me that the next generation is already weighing those questions in their own way. She chose a place that believed in her enough to invest in her education. I hope future doctors, nurses, therapists, and researchers feel that same kind of support from the rest of us. When we advocate for better healthcare, we are also advocating for them.

For us, the responsibility to the future of healthcare is not just about donating to a cause or voting for a particular policy, although those things matter. It is also about the attitude we in the HD community bring to every interaction. Do we treat healthcare workers as partners rather than adversaries? Do we respect the years they have spent learning how to help us? Do we speak up when we see them being stretched too thin, not only for their sake, but for the sake of everyone who will need them tomorrow?

One day, Jill and I will no longer be the ones sitting in the waiting room. Other families will take our place. The clinicians who care for them will be shaped by the choices we make now about how we value education, training, and the people who devote their lives to medicine.

Just as Alexus chose a school that invested in her, we can choose to invest in the people who will one day hold our hands in the hardest moments. Those living with HD cannot control the course of their illnesses, but we can all help shape the world in which it is treated, both for us and those who come after us.

Note: Huntington’s Disease News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Huntington’s Disease News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Huntington’s disease.