As November’s state election quickly approaches, the apparent frontrunners are sticking to their major talking points – affordability, housing, mental and reproductive health care, and education.

The Democratic candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, Maura Healey and Kim Driscoll, toured UMass Boston’s Center for Clinical Education and Research last Thursday afternoon, stopping to talk to nursing students and watch demonstrations of new technology that the university is using. They were joined by major UMass donors and graduates Rob and Donna Manning - the namesake of UMass Boston’s Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

“Do you plan to stay in Massachusetts and work at a hospital in Boston after graduation?” Healey asked one student. “Yeah, of course!” the student responded.

When asked later by a reporter what “specific” policy Healey could pursue, if elected, to address shortages in the health care workforce, the candidate responded that the state needs to make investments in vocational training and education, areas that are already the focus of public outlays.

Healey said addressing the workforce shortage was one of her top health care priorities, though she first listed health care affordability. The candidate swiftly tied this area of questioning into her and Driscoll’s housing plan, which the pair released three weeks ago aimed at “dramatically [increasing] housing stock across the state in order to drive down costs for all.”

“Housing is just one of any number of examples of the things that really comprise social determinants of health,” Healey said.

Mental and behavioral health, substance use disorder, reproductive health, and abortion access are also among her top health care priorities, she said.

After discussing health care and education, Healey dodged a line of questioning on what the biggest difference between her administration and Gov. Baker’s administration would be.

“I have a lot of regard and respect for Gov Baker,” she said. “We’ve worked together on a number of issues over the years. I think the cart is before the horse on this; we’ve got five weeks to go. We’re out there working incredibly hard to win this election, then get to work on behalf of the people in this state.”

When pressed for a more concrete answer on major differences between policy priorities or operations of the current administration and Healey’s vision for her years in the corner office, she was again noncommittal.

“I guess I’ll leave that to others to judge; I can just be myself and who I am,” she said. “I’m proud of running and of having run an office that’s about collaboration and communication, transparency and really trying to work, getting everybody working together as a team.”

She said a Healey administration would “look to learn from and build on” what the Baker-Polito administration has done.