Journal Articles

Forte G. Why Health Workforce Projections Are Worth Doing. AAMC Research and Action Institute. AAMC Website. Published online June 29, 2023. https://www.aamc.org/advocacy-policy/aamc-research-and-action-institute/why-health-workforce-projections-are-worth-doing

This paper from the AAMC Research and Action Institute examines the history of health workforce projections modeling in the United States, with a goal of assessing the validity of various approaches. While workforce projections modeling efforts can be accurate and have been effective in alerting policymakers and other stakeholders to possible future shortages of specific health professions and occupations, they suffer from several important deficits: (1) lack of data, (2) being stuck in workforce silos, and (3) inadequate distribution and location modeling. The paper will inform policymakers and researchers of these limitations and future work needed to improve the projections, including the need to move away from physician-focused modeling to more services-based models that integrate the contributions of health care workers beyond physicians.

Citation: Dean A, Wu M, Efferen LS, McCauley S, Allen A, Bennett H, Snitkoff LS, Cleary LM, Bliss K, Martiniano R, et al. Newly acquired burnout during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: a retrospective cohort study on the experiences of New York State primary care clinicians. J Community Health. 2023. Published online June 29, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-023-01247-z

Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10900-023-01247-z

The well-being of primary care clinicians represents an area of increasing interest amid concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated already high prevalence rates of clinician burnout. This retrospective cohort study was designed to identify demographic, clinical, and work-specific factors that may have contributed to newly acquired burnout after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Choi Y, Armstrong DP, Moore J. Characteristics of Public Health Registered Nurses and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses: Lessons Learned From the 2018 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. Public Health Reports. 2023;138(1_suppl):72S-77S. doi:10.1177/00333549231151877

Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00333549231151877

Little research has compared the demographic and practice characteristics of registered nurses (RNs) who work in public health (PH RNs) with other RNs and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who work in public health (PH APRNs) with other APRNs. This report examines differences in characteristics between PH RNs and other RNs and between PH APRNs and other APRNs.

O’Malley E, Surdu S, Langelier M. The Impact of Pandemic Concerns on Consumers’ Teledentistry Use During the First Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Public Health Reports. 2023;138(1_suppl):63S-71S. doi:10.1177/00333549221133801

Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/YSXTTTDDFN7ZG7IFFU8G/full

The COVID-19 pandemic affected consumers’ access to oral health care. This study evaluated factors associated with teledentistry use among US adults from June 2019 through June 2020.

Zhao Y, Surdu S, Langelier M. Parental Perspectives on Barriers to Pediatric Oral Health Care: Associations with Children’s And Families’ Characteristics. Pediatric Dentistry. 2023 Jan 15;45(1):24-35.

Available at: https://aapd.publisher.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/aapd/pd/2023/00000045/00000001/art00007

The purpose of this article was to identify barriers to oral health services experienced by children and evaluate variation across demographic and socioeconomic population groups.

Citation: Gundavarapu SS, Surdu S, Lagelier M. Exploring the Impact of Household, Personal, and Employment Characteristics on Dentistry’s Income Gap Between Men and Women. JADA. Published online on January 5, 2023 online. Doi: 10.1016/j.adj.2022.11.007

Available at: https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(22)00687-0/fulltext

This article provides an update on the income gap between men and women in dentistry, evaluating the impact of dentists’ household, personal, and employment characteristics on income differences.

Citation: Mertz E, Bates T, Kottek A, Jura M, Werts M, Munson A. Practice Patterns of Postgraduate Trained Dentists in the United States. J. Dent. Educ. Published online September 27, 2022. Doi: 10.1002/jdd.13072.

Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jdd.13072

Assessing the distribution and organization of the dental workforce is critical to understand how to address poor access to dental care for lower income families. The US currenly lacks a significant supply of dentists who accept Medicaid, or will work in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), which impacts communities of color and disabled individuals. There is also evidence that postgraduate dental (PGD) primary care training can increase access to care for underserved populations.

This Journal of Dental Education article examines the individual, educational, community, and policy factors that predict whether PGD-trained dentists serve Medicaid children, accept new Medicaid patients, or work in an FQHC.

Bates T, Jura M, Werts M, Kottek A, Munson A, Vujicic M, Mertz E. Trends in Postgraduate Dental Training in the United States. J. Dent. Educ. Published online September 27, 2022. Doi: 10.1002/jdd.13073.

Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jdd.13073

Post graduate dental (PGD) training has increased 27% over the last decade (2009-2019). More than 75% of this increase was due to the growth of primary care training. Despite this increase, little is known about factors associated with the pursuit of PGD training and whether or not they vary between different dental specialty fields. There is also evidence that PGD training can influence access to care for underserved populations.

This Journal of Dental Education article examines the individual, institutional, and policy factors that predict the pursuit of PGD training.

Obadoan E, Jura M, Wang S, Werts M, Martiniano R, Muench U, Mertz E.  A Longitudinal Cohort Study of Opioid Prescriptions Associated with Non-Surgical Dental Visits Among Oregon and New York State Medicaid Beneficiaries (2014-2016). JADA. February 9 2022. doi: 10.1016/j.adaj.2021.10.011.

Available at: https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-8177(21)00705-4/fulltext

Studies estimate that approximately one-third of all opioid prescriptions (Rxs) from dentists are associated with nonsurgical dental procedures, which suggests unwarranted opioid use. The authors conducted a retrospective longitudinal cohort study of adult Medicaid beneficiaries using administrative claims data from New York (NY) and Oregon (OR) (2014-2016) to examine opioid Rxs associated with nonsurgical dental visits. The primary outcomes were the number of all opioid Rxs from dentists compared with nondentists, number of opioid Rxs associated with surgical and nonsurgical dental visits, time to subsequent dental visits and visit type, and total dental morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) received during the 90 days after an opioid-related, nonsurgical dental visit.

Banava S, Obadan-Udoh E, Mertz E. Dental public health post-graduate trainees in the US: Experiences, challenges, and opportunities-A qualitative study. J Pub Health Dent. Published online September 25, 2021. Doi: 10.1111/jphd.12476.

Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jphd.12476

Since the 1950’s, health organizations and policymakers have depended on dental public health (DPH) professionals to design and execute local and national oral health strategic plans, and implement community based programs to overcome barriers and disparities. In the US, DPH specialty programs are used to train DPH professionals to increase the available workforce and improve the community’s oral health through engagement in various government and private sectors.

This article explores the DPH post-graduate trainees’ challenges and opportunities during their residency program in the US.