Transforming Dental Hygiene Education
The Santa Fe Group, the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA), and the ADHA Institute for Oral Health convened more than 100 oral health stakeholders in the Transforming Dental Hygiene Education conference in Chicago from September September 18‐20, 2013. Attendees were asked to envision the role of the dental hygiene profession in the future health care system as a fundamental shift in how dental hygiene education curriculum will prepare dental hygienists’ for an ever-changing health care system.
Speakers weighed the potential impact of curriculum reform in the context of the Affordable Care Act and discussed the barriers to change that must be overcome, and innovative collaboration models to consider. Former Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and Santa Fe Group member, Dr. Claude Earl Fox explained how attendees could lead the transformation of their own profession, and representatives of nursing, pharmacy and physician assistants explained how their professions have extended their scope of practice through innovation and persistent efforts to influence the legislative, educational and practice environments.
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