BAMF Health employs some of the brightest minds and boldest thinkers in the world—but we may have met our match in high schoolers! This year’s group of FutureSolve student interns challenged our team to think bigger, push further, and connect deeper.
Now in its third year, FutureSolve is a partnership between BAMF Health, Kent ISD, and Ferris State University Kendall College of Art and Design. New partners this year also include Steelcase and Blox, a division of Newco Design Build. Together, we hosted more than 30 high school students from eight West Michigan school districts for a six-week internship where they gained hands-on, real-world experience and college credit at Ferris State University.
Mentors from BAMF, Steelcase, and Blox brainstormed projects for students to work on over the six weeks, and in the final week, students presented their innovative solutions.
BAMF Health Student Projects
BAMF’s 12 student interns were split into three groups: clinical trials, radiopharmacy, and marketing.
Clinical Trials
The clinical trials group, led by Clinical Trials Manager Clay McNamara and Clinical Trials Coordination Supervisor Shelby Simon, was tasked with this challenge: Students must develop a practical, scalable, and cost-effective strategy to improve awareness and understanding of BAMF Health’s clinical trial portfolio among referring providers, helping connect more patients with potential research and treatment options.
Throughout the six weeks, Clay and Shelby shared more about the clinical trial process, assisted with student brainstorm sessions, and provided critical feedback on the students’ ideas.
“Their ideas were creative, innovative, and practical,” Clay shared. “But my biggest takeaway was their mindset. Instead of focusing on why an idea might not work, they focused on how to make it work. They reminded us that when we stop leading with barriers, we create more room for new solutions.”
The students’ solutions included holding an open house event for medical students and residents, making improvements to BAMF’s website, integrating AI, and streamlining the clinical trial application process.
“Within six weeks, the students not only completed a crash course on clinical trials, but also learned the intricacies of our biggest barrier as a referral-based clinic—provider awareness,” said Shelby. “Despite the steep learning curve, the students proposed resourceful, real-world solutions to that issue that we’d not considered being already so immersed in the industry. Their outside perspective was refreshing and impactful.”
Radiopharmacy
The radiopharmacy group, led by QC Validation Specialist Marissa Saenz, worked on this project: BAMF’s mission is to expand patient access to radiopharmaceutical medicine. However, the onboarding process of validating the drug is a tedious process that consumes approximately 70% of the team’s time. Develop innovative solutions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of onboarding new radiopharmaceuticals.
The group of four students was immersed in the world of radiopharmaceutical production. They learned about the intricate process of validating radiopharmaceuticals, internal team structures, and limitations associated with various solutions.
Their recommendations included using software and AI to reduce time-consuming manual work, implementing a scanning system to manage inventory, and leveraging tools like META glasses to make real-time updates to processes.
“Learning the complexities of radiopharmaceutical manufacturing is no easy feat,” said Marissa. “Yet, in just six weeks, this team tackled the challenge head-on and generated three truly innovative solutions. I’m beyond impressed with their curiosity, dedication, and teamwork.”
Marketing – Patient Experience
The marketing group, led by Marketing and Communications Manager Christine VanTimmeren, tackled two challenges:
- BAMF Health strives to provide patients with an exceptional patient experience and opportunities to engage with our brand. Create a physical patient engagement station at BAMF. Students must come up with the elements of the engagement station, where it should be located, and how its designed.
- Some patients who come to BAMF for a CT, MRI, or PET/CT scan may be one-time visitors and don’t have the in-depth experience our therapy patients have. We still want those patients to feel loved, appreciated, and valued. Students must come up with a “gift” that BAMF can give to imaging patients to create a memorable experience.
Students had to analyze space dimensions, consider radiation safety for engagement station elements, dive into patient demographics, and assess feasibility, cost, and maintenance. For the engagement station, students suggested elements such as a patient story desk, swag room, and a patient of the month award. For the patient gift, they recommended partnering with a local chocolatier to produce small branded chocolates and pairing them with a personal note.
“I challenged my group to find creative ways to further engage with our patients, and they ended up challenging me in the best way,” Christine said. “What a gift it is to be reminded of the importance of fearless, limitless thinking and the joy of watching it in real time.”
Final Student Presentations
Each student group compiled their process and recommendations into a slide deck and, on the last day, presented it on stage in front of their company mentors, school leaders, and friends and family.
The entire process helped to develop students’ teamwork, design thinking, problem-solving, and public speaking skills. It also exposed them to concepts and career paths they would never have experienced otherwise.
“This program shows students the possibilities and careers that exist right in their backyard,” said BAMF Health Manager of CEO Operations, Andy McLean. “We hope that wherever their education takes them from here, this program taught them that world-changing opportunities exist in West Michigan. And we hope we’ve inspired at least some of them to continue their career at BAMF someday.”
