Offering Hybrid Health Programs: MoHealthWINs

Across Missouri, especially in small towns and remote areas, there is a growing need for specialized health care professionals in the community. But, particularly in specialized fields, the demand for allied health positions may not support a program that only serves a small geographic area.

To help address this need, community colleges have created a number of hybrid health programs that allow students to do most of their academic work online, while providing lab space in proximity to their homes and connecting them to clinical sites. Many of these hybrid programs—like ones to train hearing instrument specialists, diagnostic sonographers, and medical laboratory technicians—were supported or scaled up through the MoHealthWINs TAACCCT grant.¹ The grant also forged relationships across the community colleges that created the groundwork for continued collaboration.

One way that colleges continue to collaborate closely is through the Missouri Health Professions Consortium. Participating community colleges—Moberly Area Community College, State Fair Community College, East Central College, North Central Missouri College, and Three Rivers College—offer occupational therapy assistant and medical laboratory technician programs. Individuals can enroll at any of these institutions and begin one of the available programs through a combination of online classes, on-campus lab experiences, and clinical experiences.

Each of these programs culminates in an associate of applied science degree. Students enroll for their first year of general education courses at their home campus and complete the second year between their home campus and a designated partner college for joint lab exercises. While students have to travel to campus to complete lab exercises—usually to their home colleges, but sometimes to a partner institution—they can complete clinical requirements at a more convenient site near their community. Travel for lab exercises weekly or a few times a semester reduces the number of lengthy commutes to attend college. Faculty also travel to the designated college sites to teach lab sections each week, working in rotating shifts so that each can work with students at each campus over the course of the program.

Consortium colleges have taken the lead on the two programs to streamline administration. Moberly Area Community College coordinates the medical laboratory technician program, while State Fair Community College coordinates the occupational therapy assistant program.

There were challenges getting the programs up and running and keeping them strong. Colleges have had to work to overcome the concerns of specialized accreditation bodies. For example, accreditors took issue with colleges offering the same lab course in different locations at different times. It was also a challenge to coordinate administrative aspects of the programs, like different academic calendars and course withdrawal deadlines across multiple colleges. The consortium colleges meet four times a year to address these logistical challenges and set a budget based on the expected number of students and level of expenses, which is shared.

Through this innovative partnership and other hybrid allied health programs, colleges in many regions of Missouri are pooling resources, faculty, and students to meet challenges affecting each of their service areas, as they aim to ensure they have enough trained health care professionals to serve their communities. The Missouri Health Professions Consortium provides another model for how colleges during the pandemic can connect their students to high-quality, existing online programs available in their state without losing enrollment.