“For the health of it. Be Selfish: Invest in education. Your own and the kids down the street.”

Prairie Doc Perspective Week of January 25th, 2026
“For the health of it. Be Selfish: Invest in education. Your own and the kids down the street.”
By Greg Heiberger, PhD & Ashley McConnell, MS
When we asked ChatGPT if it was a good idea to invest in education it responded with the wisdom and confidence of a sentient being who believes they are on the cusp of knowing everything. It told me the reason to invest in education and yourself is primarily financial, using examples like increased lifetime earnings, career stability, etc. And yes, although these things are true and GPT was not hallucinating, it missed the mark. 
Education abroad programs through universities are one of the many vetted, safe, hands on, transformative experiences educational institutions provide to students and a great way for students to invest in their learning. This past May we co-led our fifth education abroad program with nearly 30 future healthcare professionals to Ghana. We spent 2 weeks in west Africa shadowing and learning, providing support as needed, developing empathy, and building communication, diagnostic, & clinical skills. This experience was transformational, for me as an educator, and for every student who is so fortunate to invest in themselves in this way.
Over the span of 2 weeks students spent half of each day shadowing in the KNUST Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. We then engaged deeply in the community and culture each afternoon. Students visited a local elementary school, the largest market in west Africa, learned local history, and toured a slave trade castle where 30,000 slaves made their way through the door of no return each year. We were fortunate enough to participate in a safari with close-up experiences with monkeys, baboons, elephants and more. Finally, we spent a few days learning about the history and current healthcare system in the U.K. with our boots on the ground in London. We rode big red busses and saw Big Ben, and hosted a guest lecture with a professor from Cambridge Medical School. In just 17 days, students had powerful opportunities to learn about healthcare systems in hands-on ways across the world.
These experiences built empathy, opened students’ eyes to the developing world, and transformed their lives and their future work as healthcare providers. As students reflected on their experiences in the hospital, they started to see how culture influences a person’s experience with healthcare and then started to see those same values reflected in our afternoon excursions. One quote from a student highlighted family and how that extends to the community: “After seeing how these patients rely on their family and how family-orientated their culture is, I was challenged to see the importance and role of family in the US.”
To learn more, tune in to Prairie Doc Programming to see and hear directly from students about their life-changing experiences. We guarantee you’ll leave inspired and hopeful. Then use that inspiration to invest in yourself, set a goal to read more, attend a webinar, recommit to your health and wellness goals, and if you find yourself so inclined to invest in the education of others check out https://www.sdstatealumnifoundation.org.
We want to interject one final observation. We want to assure you the kids are alright. There are many negative hot takes about the younger generation and overall they are wrong. Keep investing in these amazing youth and our future is bright – the kids are alright!
Dr. Greg Heiberger serves as the interim dean of the Van D. & Barbara B. Fishback Honors College. He previously served as associate dean of academics and student success in the College of Natural Sciences at South Dakota State University and is a tenured associate professor in the Biology & Microbiology Department. He helped to create and implement the SDSU - KNUST relationship, has led numerous study abroad experiences including 4 courses to Ghana.
Ashley is the Coordinator for Student Success with the College of Natural Sciences. She has been advising pre-medical students since 2022 and has led several study abroad programs, including 3 programs to Ghana. She also teaches First Year Seminar and Career Seminar courses, and MCAT prep every spring. 
Follow The Prairie Doc® at www.prairiedoc.org, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Tik Tok. Prairie Doc Programming includes On Call with the Prairie Doc®, a medical Q&A show (most Thursdays at 7pm on SDPB, YouTube and streaming on Facebook), 2 podcasts, and a Radio program (on SDPB, Sundays at 6am and 1pm).