Multiple districts — With a team of scientists, researchers, engineers, designers and clinicians, 16 incoming seniors are spending six weeks this summer helping solve real-world problems encountered at an advanced cancer treatment center.
The East Kentwood, East Grand Rapids, and Grand Rapids high school students are learning about the breadth of work done at BAMF Health, which stands for “Bold Advanced Medical Future,” while helping the experts solve true dilemmas.
Their work, under way as part of the inaugural FutureSolve initiative, could be used in future innovations at the institute, which is focused on bringing new ideas and efficiencies into the health care field.
The institute uses advanced theranostic imaging technology to detect and treat cancer and other diseases and conduct advanced clinical trials.
“We have tasked these 16 students with the opportunity to learn about the company, to learn about what we’ve built, to learn about each area of our business, which is imaging, therapy, clinical trials, AI and how the four of those come together to form the BAMF Health platform,” said Andy McLean, BAMF manager of program development and external relations.
To apply their knowledge, students are researching eight questions involving problems in different areas of BAMF and proposing solutions. FutureSolve will culminate in mid-July with a presentation to the BAMF leadership team members and the chief executive officer.
FutureSolve is a partnership between BAMF Health, Kent ISD and Ferris State University. All students who complete the program will receive three course credits to be used at any Michigan college or university.
Students have spent part of their days at BAMF Health and part at Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University.
‘Different Minds Coming Together’
What students are tasked with is not elementary. They are exploring questions like: “How can we make an efficient, low-cost inventory management system for extremely high mix radiopharmaceuticals?”
“It’s a really unique opportunity for me due to the amount of diversity in this group and the different minds coming together and solving problems that I never thought we would be influential enough to solve,” said East Grand Rapids senior Caroline Dafoe. “(BAMF team members) are older adults that know more than us, and they are asking us for feedback. It’s a really amazing program.”
McLean said it’s valuable for the BAMF team to consider students’ ideas while exposing them to future careers at BAMF and in health care in general.
“FutureSolve is a program that allows these students to dive into the real-world problems that an organization in their backyard is facing every day. At BAMF Health we have a great deal of experts who are solving big problems; however, we can’t do it alone,” he said. “When we have an outside perspective we see things differently; we challenge our preconceived notions and we allow other experts to help us solve problems.”
More perspectives benefit all, he said.
“Their observations, their question asking, and their experiences here might encourage them to see something different that we aren’t even thinking about.”
Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy senior Anallely Martinez said she got involved with FutureSolve due to her interest in engineering and STEM in general. She’s learned about design thinking and teamwork.
“It’s been super helpful to talk with people. It really builds my communication skills, and solving these problems will really build my problem-solving skills too.”
BAMF Health began partnering with Ferris State University in early 2024. Both institutions support the growing theranostics field in Michigan and developing the workforce.
Dave Murray, Ferris State University associate vice president for communications, said FutureSolve is part of the work to align “high school to college to rewarding career pathways.”
“The idea is to connect with high school students and leaders in the industry,” he said.
BAMF is doing cutting-edge work in health care and patient treatment on the Michigan Avenue corridor, known as “Medical Mile,” which is lined with hospitals and medical research institutes, he said.
“Exposing high school students who might not be aware of careers in these fields, or the impact these careers can have, helps build the pipeline of talent in Grand Rapids,” Murray said. “We want to inspire the students and have them realize that this could be them in just a few short years.”
‘Their observations, their question-asking, and their experiences here might encourage them to see something different that we aren’t even thinking about.’
— Andy McLean, BAMF manager of program development and external relations
East Kentwood senior Vanessa Saltzman Vaca, who hopes to become a neonatal nurse, said she sees many parallels in the careers she’s learning about at BAMF.
She’s problem-solved questions related to engineering, and found a climate ripe for idea generation.
“Everyone here is so encouraging and motivating and in support of you,” she said. “If I have a question I know I can go to anyone in the room.”
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