Teaching Health Center Planning and Development Program - Asian Health Services, Federally Qualified Health Center 101 8th Street, Suite 100 Oakland, CA 94607 https://asianhealthservices.org/ Project Director: Dr. Huong Le 510-735-8307 huongle@ahschc.org Grant Program Funds Requested: AHS is applying for $500,000 over 2 years under the HRSA-23-015 Teaching Health Center Planning and Development Program. This project aims to establish an AEGD residency with 2-4 residents per class. The first residency class is expected to matriculate in July 2026. Abstract Body Content: Asian Health Services (AHS) is an FQHC based in Alameda County, California. AHS proposes to establish a new accredited Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program that will train dental residents in culturally and linguistically appropriate care to help serve our target patient populations, which include limited English proficiency (LEP), low-income, and un/underinsured patients. AHS has been designated as a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA), with a score of 21 in dental health, indicating a high need for additional dental providers in the area who cater to our target populations. In particular, Alameda county has a need for providers who accept Medi-Cal to help improve access to oral health services for low-income populations who rely on Medi-Cal. AHS’ model of care aims to reduce barriers to care and promote health equity. Our target populations include low-income, un/underinsured, and LEP. The proposed dental residency program will train residents in providing culturally and linguistically appropriate care while exposing them to a diverse population of patients, including but not limited to un/underinsured, low-income, and LEP. AHS sees close to 30,000 unique patients per year, with 96% of patients identifying as a racial or ethnic minority and 84% of patients better served in a language other than English. All of AHS’ dental providers are bilingual, and services are provided in English as well as Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, French, Spanish, Laotian, and Mongolian. Furthermore, AHS is well-positioned to advocate for and promote oral health equity in Alameda and increase access to dental services for low-income, un/underinsured, and LEP populations. As a member of the Oral Health Equity Core Group developed by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network (CPEHN), AHS actively helps promote racially equitable oral health policy grounded in community voice and lived experience in California. As a recipient of HRSA’s THCPD grant, AHS aims to establish a new CODA-accredited community-based dental residency program that will effectively train residents to practice in and meet the clinical needs of the un/underinsured, LEP, and low-income populations. During the 2-year project period, AHS will (1) Achieve AAAHC accreditation by no later than March 2024; (2) Achieve CODA accreditation by or before March 31, 2025; and (3) Implement a financial sustainability plan to support the new accredited general dental residency program beyond the grant period of performance. By training our own residents within the community health setting, AHS will foster compassion for community health work and equip students with the tools to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate care to meet the unique needs of AHS’ target patient population, including but not limited to low-income, limited English proficiency (LEP), and un/underinsured patients. Our dental residency program hopes to instill AHS’ mission statement of providing health, social, and advocacy services for all regardless of income, insurance status, immigration status, language, or culture, with the hope that residents will carry these values in continuing their career path working in a community-based health setting.
