Colocation of Primary Care, Dental, and Pharmacy Residencies: An Analysis of Interprofessional Post-Graduate Training

Research demonstrates that post-graduate training influences health professionals’ practice location and practice behaviors. Post-graduate training for dentists, pharmacists, and physicians is steadily increasing each year.  This year, close to 6,000 pharmacists matched into residencies across the US, more than 1,900 dentists entered general dentistry or pediatric post-graduate training programs, and over 17,000 physicians matched into primary care residencies. Despite support for interprofessional education across national health organizations and accrediting bodies, little is known about the prevalence and composition of interprofessional post-graduate training on a national level. In collaboration with the Carolina Health Workforce Research Center (CHWRC), this study will produce a much-needed body of evidence on the number, location, and factors predicting colocation of dental, pharmacy, and primary care residencies in the US. The study will use data from the American Dental Association (ADA) Health Policy Institute (HPI) dental program list and Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) dental program data. The aims of the study for the OHWRC are to analyze the colocation of dental and primary care physician post-graduate training, examine predictors of dental and primary care post-graduate training colocation [such as program sponsor, residency specialty/size, training setting (e.g., FQHC, hospital, etc.), state, and measures of underservice (e.g., Area Deprivation Indices, metro/non-metro)]. CHWRC is proposing a sister study that will examine primary care and pharmacy using data from American Society of Hospital Pharmacists (ASHP) Accreditation & Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) data.