In rural Colorado, access to health care training can be one of the first barriers students face.
For those living far from a campus or training center, distance, weather and limited local options can all complicate the path to completing a program, especially in fields that require in-person clinical instruction. Those barriers come at a time when many rural communities across the state are facing serious health care workforce shortages, making local training options more important for students who cannot easily relocate or commute long distances. Colorado Mesa University is working to address that challenge.
This semester, CMU Tech’s Allied Health Mobile Learning Lab has been stationed in the Gunnison Valley Health parking lot for multiple class sessions, giving Gunnison-based students in the Medical Office Assistant program a place to complete required clinical training close to home.
For Karrie Stanfill, Technical Instructor of the Medical Office Assistant program at CMU Tech, that kind of access carries particular significance.
When Stanfill was in school, getting to class meant a four-hour round trip drive from Limon to Colorado Springs, if road and weather conditions cooperated. Now, she sees similar obstacles facing students in rural communities across Colorado.
“If my school would have brought a lab like that out to me, that would have changed my whole school experience for the better,” Stanfill said. “The Mobile Learning Lab has made a huge difference in getting hands-on training to students who wouldn’t otherwise have access. Instead of having to travel long distances like I did or move closer to a school, we’re able to bring the training directly to them.”
The Allied Health Mobile Learning Lab is one of three CMU Tech mobile learning labs. Built inside a semi-truck trailer, the lab functions as a traveling classroom designed to bring technical training directly into communities. In Gunnison, it allows students in the hybrid Medical Office Assistant program to complete the clinical side of their training locally while completing other coursework online.
Medical office assistants work in both clinical and administrative roles. Their responsibilities can include taking vital signs, collecting specimens, assisting with exams and managing front-office tasks such as scheduling, records and insurance processing. While some parts of that training can be taught online, the clinical portion has to be practiced in person.
During the most recent visit to Gunnison, students used the lab to practice venipuncture and other clinical skills tied to their coursework. Inside the lab, they worked through supervised exercises in a setting designed to reflect the kind of environment they will work in after graduation.
Stanfill said that kind of access is especially important for students trying to fit school into already busy lives.
“There are a lot of people who’d like to go back to school, but it’s harder when you have a family and work full-time,” she said. “The Mobile Learning Lab helps remove that barrier and gives students in smaller towns the same opportunities as those in larger areas.”
That local access matters as rural health care systems continue to face strain. Across Colorado, many rural hospitals operate with thin margins while trying to recruit and retain workers. Building training opportunities closer to home can help students prepare for support roles in the same communities where workforce needs already exist.
The most recent visit also served the broader Gunnison community. During the visit, the Medical Office Assistant program partnered with CMU Tech’s Apprenticeship program to provide free CPR training for local residents, including early childhood professionals who need certification for their work.
For Dillon Ventola, CMU’s Customized Business Program Specialist for the Community Education Center, the lab’s value extends beyond a single class session.
“CMU Tech’s Allied Health Mobile Learning Lab really helps us meet students and communities where they are,” Ventola said. “It gives us the ability to bring hands-on, high-quality training directly into rural areas where those kinds of opportunities can be harder to access. Instead of asking students to travel long distances, we’re able to deliver that real-world experience right in their own communities.”
Ventola said that matters not only for students, but for the long-term strength of local communities and employers. By expanding access to training in areas where health care workers are urgently needed, the lab helps create pathways into careers that support both individual students and the broader workforce.
For rural communities like Gunnison, that means fewer individuals have to choose between their education and the place they call home.
“These types of skills are needed everywhere,” Stanfill said. “Not everyone can or wants to leave their small town. Now they don’t have to.”
As the Mobile Learning Lab continues its journey across rural Colorado, students in communities like Gunnison have a closer path to the careers their towns are counting on them to fill. The lab brings access, opportunity and a stronger connection between education and workforce needs in rural communities.