Minnesota Department of Health

The cost of education and training to become a dentist or dental therapist is high; dental school is the most expensive graduate degree program in the Unites States. The National Center for Health Statistics reports that in 2019, 65.3% of Americans age 18 or older had a dental exam or cleaning within the previous 12 months. The global SARS-CoV2 pandemic has spotlighted oral health disparities and barriers to care. In the recently released State of Oral Health Equity in America 2021 Resea

Minnesota Department of Health requests funds to implement a mobile version of the Rural Obstetric Simulation Training. Funds would be used to purchase obstetric suite equipment, a van, and mobile technology required for this equipment to be taken on the road and used within a mobile environment. This project would make obstetric training available to a wider range of rural providers than would be able to access it if the training was only offered on-site at Community Memorial Hospital in Cloque

Obstetric services are a core health care service, and rural communities are finding it increasingly challenging to offer them. Between 2003 and 2018, nine Minnesota counties have lost hospital birth services. Moreover, maternal morbidity, including complications in childbirth, has increased dramatically in the United States in the past decade. With these facts in mind, rural hospitals with obstetric services need more opportunities for providers to maintain their skills and improve the vi