{"id":484600,"date":"2026-02-22T22:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T22:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/484600\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T22:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T22:50:10","slug":"utahs-rocky-mountain-university-seeks-to-meet-healthcare-needs-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/484600\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah’s Rocky Mountain University seeks to meet healthcare needs \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Provo’s Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions offers dozens of graduate-level health care degrees.The school was founded over 25 years ago to meet the evolving needs found in the health care industry.University leaders tout the school’s high return of investment for graduate students pursuing high-demand jobs.<\/p>\n

Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions<\/a> President Cameron Martin is a higher education administrator by profession. He\u2019s not a health care clinician.<\/p>\n

But while Martin can\u2019t teach a course in physical therapy or perform an eye exam at the school\u2019s Provo campus, he knows firsthand the importance of lifesaving care delivered by well-trained professionals.<\/p>\n

In his own words, Martin\u2019s been on the business end of \u201cmedical miracles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twelve years ago, he suffered a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage while exercising on a treadmill. Martin would spend a month in the ICU.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, his wife has endured a series of heart attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019ve had a history of medical challenges,\u201d he said, wryly.<\/p>\n

\"\"Second-year doctor of optometry student Coleby Hess, right, checks the cornea of fellow second-year student Parth Patel at Rocky Mountain University in Provo on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

But for Martin, those life-threatening experiences now inform his leadership at the private, for-profit institution that focuses entirely on graduate-level health care education.<\/p>\n

\u201cI bring to the table the voice of the patient in the business discussions about what we do and the importance of how we do it,\u201d Martin told the Deseret News.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s not lose sight of listening to the patient. Let\u2019s not lose sight of seeing them.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, yes, why I am here is very personal. Not only do I believe in the school\u2019s mission, but I\u2019ve experienced it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Sizzler booth and a school\u2019s genesis\"\"Rocky Mountain University is pictured in Provo on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

Rocky Mountain was founded more than a quarter-century ago by a pair of retired Navy health care professionals \u2014 Richard Nelson and Michael Skurja Jr. \u2014 and a Brigham Young University educator and coach, Larry Hall.<\/p>\n

While sitting at a Sizzler restaurant booth and sketching possible graduate degree programs on paper napkins prior to the school\u2019s existence, the founders asked themselves what needs were unmet in health care education.<\/p>\n

And while they had no capital at the time, they shared a vision of training healthcare professionals and improving lives. So Rocky Mountain\u2019s founders relied on personal resources in the school\u2019s early years \u2014 drawing upon pensions and leveraging personal assets to get things moving.<\/p>\n

As a for-profit private institution without the benefit of public dollars, the early school leadership took its operational cues from market needs. Those impulses still remain at the Utah County institution with a student body of approximately 1,700.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou live and die by the market \u2026 and because we are self-sufficient, we are dependent upon it,\u201d said Martin.<\/p>\n

\"\"Second-year doctor of physical therapy student Kaden Kennard does upper limb nerve testing on fellow second-year student Kyle Watkins at Rocky Mountain University in Provo on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

Rocky Mountain\u2019s founders had to be innovative in their early operations by offering programs such as doctor of physical therapy and online instruction. Such elements are now commonplace. But at the time, said Martin, they were industry novelties.<\/p>\n

Today, Rocky Mountain offers a variety of master\u2019s degrees in programs such as medical science, speech-language pathology, nursing and occupational therapy. Meanwhile, the school\u2019s doctoral degree programs include physical therapy, optometry, occupational therapy, nursing practice\/family nurse practitioner and philosophy in health sciences.<\/p>\n

The school also offers almost two dozen certificate options in fields such as nursing, counseling, occupational therapy and psychiatry.<\/p>\n

Prioritizing student ROI at RMU\"\"Cameron K. Martin, Rocky Mountain University president and CEO, shows a physical therapy room that is used to teach everyday life rehabilitation skills at Rocky Mountain University in Provo on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s \u201chigher ed-speak\u201d includes academic acronyms such as Ph.D., M.S., MBA and now, perhaps more than ever, ROI \u2026 aka \u201cReturn on Investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike many other Utah higher education institutions offering graduate programs in health care fields, Rocky Mountain cannot draw public funds or financial support from a sponsoring institution such as Brigham Young University. So student tuition fuels RMU operations.<\/p>\n

Again, said Martin, the market must always be respected.<\/p>\n

Rocky Mountain is in the top quartile of costs compared to peer institutions, but the school opts to hold tuition flat for each student.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo from day one, we can tell our students their total cost of attendance \u2014 whereas other institutions may have an annual escalation,\u201d said Martin. \u201cIf we have to raise tuition, it will be on the next cohort. So our students know, beginning-to-end, what their costs are.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means our margins are razor thin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Cameron K. Martin, Rocky Mountain University president and CEO, shows a physical therapy room that is used to teach everyday life rehabilitation skills at Rocky Mountain University in Provo on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

Plus, Martin added, resources are prioritized into the student learning experience. That makes for lean operations.<\/p>\n

So while the furniture around campus may not be brand new, the trade-off, said Martin, is that Rocky Mountain U. students will graduate with the essential tools they need to succeed.<\/p>\n

A former associate commissioner in the Utah System of Higher Education, Martin is quick to point to several key metrics that define the \u201cRMU-ROI\u201d: A 91% retention rate. An 87% graduation rate. And a 97% employment rate for graduates.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd here\u2019s a stat I love,\u201d he added. \u201cA zero percent cohort student loan default rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, 77% of Rocky Mountain students are receiving federal financial aid. The remaining tuition costs are self-funding. \u201cAnd, again, that\u2019s why that tuition is so critical, and we\u2019re watching that ratio very carefully,\u201d said Martin. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut (students benefit) because they\u2019re earning a degree in a high-demand area that meets the workforce needs \u2014 and at typically a higher income than you would in other degrees outside the medical domain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin is also enthused about being included in the Wasatch Front\u2019s medical education community. \u201cWe are looking and making developing partnerships with other institutions on the undergrad experience, marrying their strength with our strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Dr. Kent Crossley, Rocky Mountain University department of anatomy co-chair, shows the cadaver lab at Rocky Mountain University in Provo on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

For example, Utah Valley University students can attend their first three years of undergraduate study at the public university in nearby Orem \u2014 and then during their senior year attend the school\u2019s graduate programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can get into the market that much faster,\u201d said Martin.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain University Foundation operates as a registered nonprofit organization designed to support the school\u2019s academic and clinical initiatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe RMU Foundation created six community health clinics where the public can come in and get the health care that they need, and no one is turned away,\u201d said Stephen Whyte, the school\u2019s executive vice president of university relations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone has insurance, we\u2019ll accept the insurance \u2014 and if they don\u2019t, we\u2019ll still provide service for them. It\u2019s helping to meet the community health care needs, while providing an educational experience for the graduate students under faculty supervision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Training confident health care professionals\"\"Second-year doctor of physical therapy student Jared Lopez assesses fellow second-year student Mandy Thomas during class at Rocky Mountain University in Provo on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

A tour of Rocky Mountain\u2019s clinical elements offers a glimpse of daily student life for the graduate students \u2014 many of whom will soon be practicing healthcare in the Beehive State.<\/p>\n

While a classroom of students is receiving cervical spine exam training under the direction of veteran physical therapists, students up the hall are mastering skills they will need as eye doctors to help prevent blindness and identify diabetes and other ailments.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a counseling clinic, an electrophysiology clinic, a center for communication disorders and a spacious laboratory where students learn anatomy lessons working with cadavers.<\/p>\n

The school has 462 employees, with 268 residing in Utah. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have tenure \u2014 so our faculty is all about the experience of teaching,\u201d said Martin. \u201cAnd we encourage them all to be in clinic once a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Paulson is a doctor of physical therapy who served in the military for several decades and now works with the school\u2019s physical therapy students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to be able to give back to the profession that I love,\u201d said Paulson. \u201cI\u2019m still in clinic 2\u00bd days per week, so I get to see patients and bring relevant stories to the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Second-year doctor of optometry student Coleby Hess practices gonioscopy on fellow second-year student Parth Patel at Rocky Mountain University in Provo on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News <\/p>\n

Another military veteran, Dr. Matthew Orgill, works with students mastering \u201cthe bread and butter\u201d of optometry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can have up to 32 students being monitored by four or five faculty members all at once,\u201d said Orgill. \u201cWe\u2019re training them how to safely perform these procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students, observed Martin, experience equal parts rigor and institutional support during their years at RMU.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell our students, \u2018We will push you, and we will push you hard \u2014 because you have to have the confidence that you know your craft. So that when I\u2019m your patient, I know that you know your craft\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Provo’s Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions offers dozens of graduate-level health care degrees.The school was founded over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253,5817,3125],"class_list":{"0":"post-484600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-news-division","12":"tag-news-feed-local"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}