College of Education and Health Professions Students Tackle Real-World Problems at Innovate for Healthcare and Education Academy

College of Education and Health Professions Dean Kate Mamiseishvili set the tone for this spring's Innovate for Healthcare and Education (I4HE) Academy with a quote from author Astrid Lindgren's indomitable main character, Pippi Longstocking: "I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that."

"I thought this quote captured the spirit and the mindset of an innovator, an entrepreneur, an inventor, someone who thinks outside the box, is not afraid to take risks and fail, will learn from failure and try again," Mamiseishvili said to participants. "As you go through the day, I encourage you all to adopt this mindset. Try something you've never tried before, believe, and be confident that it's going to work out."

I4HE brings together students, faculty members and local education and health professionals to apply design thinking principles to real-world problems in Arkansas and work together to formulate solutions. Students from multiple programs in the college — future teachers, nurses, exercise scientists, occupational therapists, public health professionals and speech-language pathologists — applied to participate in the third annual event, which is designed to expose them to the world of innovation and entrepreneurship.

"Those in the caring professions don't always see themselves as innovators or business-minded," Mamiseishvili said after the event. "I4HE encourages them to notice problems in their education or health spaces and shows them how to be part of the solution."

The keynote speaker was an alumnus known for applying his problem-solving lens, former Eleanor Mann School of Nursing student Spencer Jones. After graduating in 2013, Jones was working the night shift on a busy medical-surgical floor when he formulated an idea for a breakaway device for IV catheters. His patented and trademarked SafeBreak Vascular technology, which separates to prevent IV catheter failure, allows nurses to quickly switch out SafeBreak and avoid placing a new catheter or additional needle sticks. It was approved by the FDA in May 2022. Since then, he has led and consulted for several medical device companies and founded XO Medtech, an AI-native medtech company that provides software tools, community, training and AI solutions for innovators and manufacturers.

Jones walked students through the shifting landscape of healthcare, sharing how their medical knowledge can be especially powerful when paired with a problem-solving mindset, how being fluent with AI tools can improve patient care and the unique opportunity they have to change healthcare from within.

"Innovation is desperately needed in healthcare," he said. "And yes, I definitely mean devices, but what we really need is a change in care delivery, a change in how healthcare operates. That's enabled by devices, but I really think it's enabled by positioning your innovative solutions to fit into the healthcare system or to change it when you have the opportunity. You guys have a unique opportunity to impact the healthcare environment as you move forward into your careers, to focus on care that's more efficient and care that places more value on patients rather than payers."

Jones took students behind the curtain to help them better understand the intricacies of the invention-to-commercialization process, including funding options and hurdles.

Jones said he's passionate about changing how innovation reaches the finish line, including how devices are brought to market, how to compress timelines and how to address capital issues. "We want to leave fewer innovations on the sidelines," he said.

Jones advised students: "Don't let problems wash over you without a second thought. If it warrants a second thought, keep investigating. Sit down and unpack the problem, maybe ask AI to help with research; use discernment. If you notice something broken, collect the dots to connect the dots and emerge with a valuable solution."

Jones encouraged students to blend their problem-solving mindsets with tools like AI. "Your clinical domain experience plus tool fluency is going to make you absolutely irreplaceable," he said.

Following Jones' inspirational keynote, innovation strategist Jessica Salmon led the academy group through brainstorming exercises designed to help them think creatively and support their assigned "Arkansan" with a specific healthcare issue. Five teams — made up of students, faculty members from the college's various programs and local education and healthcare leaders — delivered their solutions in "Shark Tank" style presentations.

A panel of faculty judges determined the winner based on criteria like empathy for the patient and a solution that was both innovative and realistic. The teams were asked to consider the whole person when determining how to solve their primary problem. Team "Paloma" won the day with their Community Care Circle app, designed to help an overwhelmed mother by connecting her with various resources and people in her community.

"In particular, we really loved how Care Circle addressed all of Paloma's roles as the matriarch of the family, and you all emphasized that community was the solution. In particular, your needs analysis was very thoughtful and thorough and really mapped out to the app, which was comprehensive," said Luzita Vela, a leader in the college's Interprofessional Education Council (IPEC) who helped plan the I4HE event along with Mary Keith, director of career initiatives.

The day ended with a panel discussion featuring Hailey Frost, a counselor in private practice and adjunct instructor in the college's Counselor Education and Supervision program; Maria Ball, an occupational therapist who works in school districts across Northwest Arkansas; Margo Leavitt, an infection preventionist at Washington Regional Medical Center; CT Erickson, the elementary principal at West Side School District in Greers Ferry, Arkansas; Myranda Victoria, a school-based speech-language pathologist; and Star LaGrone, an assistant professor of health science at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville and an emergency department nurse at Baptist Health in Fort Smith and Van Buren.

Panelists answered questions ranging from how they see innovation playing out in their fields in the future to their best advice for students as they embark on their chosen health or education fields.

Exercise science major Jason Le said he applied to be part of I4HE because he wanted to step outside his comfort zone and learn how to bring more innovation to his chosen career in physical therapy. "Being able to connect with people from other programs was also great," he said.

Camila Garciarossi, a public health major, also appreciated meeting people within the college who plan to work in various education and health fields. She was reminded that patients and clients achieve better health and educational outcomes when care teams from different disciplines work together for their benefit.

"The day was awesome. Super insightful. It was better than just attending a career panel," Garciarossi said, adding that the keynote speaker was thought-provoking.

"Healthcare is in a state of despair," she said. "This puts us students in a unique position."