Speaker: Summer McMenamin, RDH, BSDH, MSHS, FADHA, MCHES

Program Track: Educational Methodologies

Course Description: This course is designed for dental hygiene faculty seeking to help students recognize that clinical care exists within larger systems that shape patient access and outcomes. Using the "Who Is They?" framework, participants learn to map oral health access barriers across three core layers: Policy, Workforce, and Reimbursement, and translate that systems literacy into their teaching. The goal is not only to build faculty knowledge, but to equip educators with practical tools to help future clinicians thoughtfully engage with the systems influencing care delivery and identify opportunities to improve access for the patients and communities they will serve.

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze how public health infrastructure, Medicaid, and workforce regulations shape oral healthcare access.
• Evaluate systemic barriers to oral health equity and identify educator opportunities to address gaps.
• Apply systems literacy frameworks to reframe how community and public health content is taught.
• Develop classroom strategies and resources that build students’ systems-level understanding.
• Participants will leave with practical teaching strategies, not just systems knowledge.
• Integrate systems literacy into existing community and public health coursework using practical classroom strategies.

CE Credit Hours: 2.0

Course Creation: August 2026

The American Dental Hygienists' Association is designated as an approved provider by the American Academy of Dental Hygiene, Inc. #AADHADH (Jan. 1, 2026–Dec. 31, 2026). Approval does not imply acceptance by a state or provincial Board of Dentistry. Licensee should maintain this document in the event of an audit.

The American Dental Hygienists’ Association is an approved provider of dental continuing education as recognized by the Dental Board of California, Provider #5238.