Strategies to ensure access and equity: Dental residency program as a workforce initiative to increase access to care in California

Access to oral health services remains a critical problem for the underserved in California (CA).  The safety net is fragmented and facing serious resource challenges in the current economy and political environment.  Lutheran Medical Center (LMC) and its FQHC have developed innovative, post-doctoral residency training programs.  The distributed programs place residents in 25 states, territories, and internationally as a means of increasing access for the most vulnerable populations, ameliorating recruitment and retention issues faced by community health centers (CHC's), and offering alternative career pathways for its graduates.

This service-learning initiative has been a national resource for workforce solution. Through collaborative partnerships with FQHCs, 344 residents are placed fulltime in FQHC’s for one to three years of training.  LMC sponsors seven Commission on Dental Accreditation approved post-doctoral residency programs. Didactic curriculum is delivered through distance learning methodologies to assure educational equity. Data suggests 12% of the 280,000 visits nationwide are to those with special needs.  Outcomes data suggests that close to 30% of residents continue providing care to the underserved and most vulnerable. 

Currently, there are 42 AEGD-CA and Peds-CA dental residents practicing in 19 CHCs and UCSF.  The presentation will provide longitudinal oral health services and recruitment/retention data from AEGD-CA residency focused in CA since its inception in 2008 and 2 years of data for the Peds-CA program. The integration of strong leadership, community-based partnerships, and service learning is an innovative approach to enhancing the state’s safety net and integrating the pipeline program to another level at a time of crises in the state’s economy.