This year marks the 50th anniversary of the nuclear medicine technology program at Ferris.
Students start out at Ferris taking elective classes before going to the Grand Rapids campus to finish their bachelor’s degree. Students also take classes during the summer to help ensure that they graduate on time.
Professor Tim Vander Laan is a program coordinator for the nuclear medicine technology program. He has noticed that some students commute from campus while other’s stay in Grand Rapids, as they begin the clinical portion of their internship.
“Usually, it’s two to three days a week, so I try to make it scheduled easier for commuting,” Vander Laan said. “Students decide to move down Grand Rapids down here. And there’s options to make it doable for those that want to stay on the main campus but still complete the program. It’s certainly still an option for students. And every year I have students that do that, they stay down there and take the bus.”
Vander Laan has also seen the equipment change to stay up to date over the years.
“To keep up to date with the changes that are going on the field, to stay current with the education and to prepare our graduates to be successful in the field,” Vander Laan said. “We’ve had to modify the program. We kind of update our technology with the different equipment that we the variety equipment that we use train with our students. So we’re always looking at what’s next, and how can we better equip our students to prepare them for successful careers in the field. So just kind of staying updated, mostly with technology and teaching techniques and what’s changing, [and] getting updated in video.”
Vander Laan also explained that the program is looking to do something special with the Alumni Association in honor of the program’s 50th anniversary, however no immediate plans have been put together at the time of this article.
Other professors and alumni were contacted but did not respond before this article’s publication.