Investing in the Future of Healthcare

Current students are the healthcare workers and professionals of the future — the ones who will care for us one day, implement innovative tools and treatments, and discover solutions to as-yet-unknown challenges. And if MGH Institute students and supporters have anything to do with it, that future will be bright. 

That was apparent at “The IHP Today: Facing Tomorrow Together,” the Institute’s fall scholarship fundraiser held last Thursday night inside 1 CW that brought together more than 100 friends of the Institute, faculty, staff and alumni. A panel of students captivated the audience with stories about their motivations and vision for healthcare after Institute President Paula Milone-Nuzzo shared why it’s so important to support them. 

“As healthcare evolves, so too must the knowledge and skills of those who provide that care in this way,” said Milone-Nuzzo in her opening remarks. “Supporting the education of healthcare workers is not just an investment in individual careers, but an investment in our future healthcare.”

The panel was moderated by Pamela D.A. Reeve, Chair of The Women’s Edge, which works with women CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business leaders to help them grow their businesses and careers. Before introducing the students, Reeve reiterated the importance of young people in all areas, but particularly in healthcare.

“The voices of our young people are important in everything right now. We need to be listening to this rising generation in each of the areas these students are representing tonight,” she said in reference to Alaya Martin, from the Direct Entry Nursing Program’s Class of 2025; Lexi Nieves from the Physical Therapy Program’s Class of 2026; and Zoe Ongaro, Class of 2025 in the Physician Assistant Studies Program.

Each student shared their “why” for choosing their particular healthcare degree and career. Nieves experienced the role a physical therapist plays after a running injury, and then watched her grandmother struggle to navigate the healthcare system because of language and cultural barriers among others. She wants to not only provide care as a physical therapist but also as someone who can help provide resources and guidance to people that need it. 

“I’ve worked in several different settings, and I’ve seen where along those routes a lot of the patients fall. I call them health care silos, because they end up in a place where they have nowhere else to go,” explained Nieves. “I want to be the person to help prevent that and find those resources, so they don’t remain there.”

Ongaro was also motivated in part by seeing disparities in access to high quality healthcare in underserved communities in Washington, D.C., where she interacted with people in her research experience as well as working in emergency departments. 

“I was exposed to the role that the PA has, specifically in primary care, and the role that PAs can have in increasing access to patient care,” said Ongaro. “I saw they were the ones who were seeing all the patients and on the forefront of patient care. And I saw that they were helping bridge the gaps because there weren’t enough physicians and healthcare professionals.”

Martin’s path to nursing was a little more circuitous as she saw the impact that working in public health could have and got her master’s before focusing on policy work. She was inspired by the work she did around intimate partner violence and maternal health and decided to return to school to pursue her interest in direct patient care. 

“I found myself really interested in the overlap between women’s health and mental health,” said Martin. “I grew up around a lot of nurses, so I took the time to talk to them and talk to other people in my life that were in the nursing field and felt like the nursing approach to care felt best for me.”

Once they chose their field and decided to enroll in the Institute, all three benefitted from scholarships made possible by supporters of the Institute. The IHP Today event raised more than $225,000 but that number could grow if a few more people contribute to reach the goal of having 50 donors at the event. If the goal is met, a generous member of the Board of Trustees pledged to give $5,000.

That financial help is vital for students. It not only allows them to focus on their course work and explore opportunities at conferences and organizations at the Institute, but also makes attending the Institute possible.

“If I did not have my scholarship, I would not be here,” shared Martin. “Even the smallest scholarships make a difference for students. I got a master’s degree and then did a career switch. I already had student loans. I am very aware that it is a privilege for me to be here.  I have a friend who has had a very similar trajectory who was unfortunately not able to have that privilege.”

Beyond simply ensuring that people with unique talents can pursue healthcare degrees and careers, financial support can have an impact on healthcare and patients in a number of ways. 

“Someone believed in us,” said Ongaro. “You are investing in individual students and changing individual students lives but you are also investing in the future of healthcare. We are all entering fields that have very high rates of burnout so contributing to the well-being of students [by removing the financial burden] becomes contributing to the well-being of our healthcare workers which will ultimately affect our patients.” 

It can also mean adding to the diversity in the fields so patients can relate to their healthcare providers, and healthcare providers know how they can best help cross cultural barriers in healthcare. 

“We can diversify our workforce,” noted Nieves. “The more diversity we can bring in, whether that is diversity in perspective or physical diversity, the more we can understand how these patients are being impacted, and make sure no patient feels unseen.”

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