COCC Madras to Offer Complete Medical Assistant Training 

An expansion at the COCC Madras campus will bring a Medical Assistant program presence to Jefferson County, anticipated to start taking students in the fall of 2025. Students will be able to complete their entire training sequence in Madras. Classrooms and labs will be an extension of the Bend campus, with simulated clinical settings that provide top-notch training. Students can undertake a one-year Medical Assistant certificate without the added time and trouble of lengthy commutes.

"Working in rural health care is all about heart — caring for our neighbors, our friends, our families," says Shannon Edgar, St. Charles Health System's chief nursing officer for Madras and Prineville. "COCC's new health care trainings being offered locally are going to create a larger resource of trained professionals who are more likely to stay and serve in the community."