With a goal to improve overall health by focusing on expansion of oral health services across its network of community health centers, Valleywise Health is pleased to announce the establishment of an Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) Program.
Valleywise Health was awarded funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration to develop this distinctive program, which will train dental residents to provide multidisciplinary oral health care for ethnically and racially diverse patients, apply concepts of quality improvement and practice management, and help future practitioners have a better understanding of the oral health care needs of vulnerable communities.
“The AEGD program is a natural extension of the Valleywise Health mission to improve community health,” says Dr. Christopher Brendemuhl, DMD, dental director at Valleywise Health. “Not only will the grant help us expand the availability of dental services for some our most vulnerable populations across the Valley, but will also help us train the next generation of residents that are inclusive providers, public-health minded and lifelong learners.”
The Valleywise AEGD residency will train residents as primary oral healthcare providers in pursuit of the program’s goals:
- Delivery of patient focused general dentistry, emergency, and multidisciplinary care.
- Acting in the role required of a generalist in an interprofessional, team-based care model.
- Application of public health principles in the development and delivery of community service initiatives and varied care delivery models, which emphasize health promotion and disease prevention.
- Application of critical thinking and evidence-based clinical decision making to learning and provision of oral healthcare.
Recruitment of dental residents for the AEGD program will begin in the Fall of 2022.
To learn more about Valleywise Health’s current dental services, please visit https://valleywisehealth.org/services/dental.
About Valleywise Health
Located in Phoenix, Arizona and named one of the 100 Top Hospitals in the nation by IBM Watson Health in 2020, Valleywise Health (formerly Maricopa Integrated Health System) has a proud tradition of being the community safety net health care system with a mission and commitment to serving the underserved. Valleywise Health consists of Valleywise Health Medical Center, Arizona’s only public teaching hospital, Level 1 trauma center with ability to treat adults and children and Arizona’s only nationally verified Burn Center serving the entire Southwestern United States.
Other services include primary HIV care at the McDowell and Peoria health centers, the Refugee Women’s Health Clinic, three behavioral health centers, and 11 community health centers.
To learn more, please visit www.ValleywiseHealth.org
