Beth Mertz will share sociological reflections on a decade of her research on the dental system in the US. How and why did it evolve as an independent system of health care, and what are the ramifications of this separation of care for the mouth and body? What are the implications of the system's dynamics for access to dental care and understanding of dental health? This is a work in progress, come join the conversation!
Beth
Mertz is a program director at the Center for the Health Professions,
University of California, San Francisco. She joined the Center as staff
to the Pew Health Professions Commission and the Center for California
Workforce Studies, working on a broad range of health professions
workforce policy and analysis projects, including research on graduate
medical education, oral health, public health, allied health, nursing,
medicine, and rural health. She directed the California Dental Access
Project, which focused her research around dental workforce and access
issues. She is currently the principle investigator on two research
activities - a statewide survey of dental hygienists and an evaluation
of alternative dental hygiene practice. Additionally, she is the
program director for the UCSF Pharmacy Leadership Institute, a year
long leadership development program for pharmacists, and conducts
organizational development trainings for a variety of health care
organizations. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of
Southern California, a Master’s degree from the Humphrey Institute of
Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, and is currently working
on her PhD in Medical Sociology at UCSF.