3RNET Spotlight on Excellence in Community Health: Dr. Christopher Brendemuhl
From HIV Dentistry to Building a Thriving Dental Residency
When Dr. Christopher Brendemuhl started as a young dentist at Valleywise Health in Maricopa County, AZ, he didn’t know he had found a position that would define his career. He assumed he would work there for a couple of years, figure out what direction he wanted his career to take, and move on. But once he began, he realized he was exactly where he was meant to be.
He interviewed for a position in general dentistry within one of the FQHC’s clinics, but during the interview they offered him the chance to work in a different field of dentistry entirely: HIV care. Having had a great experience working with the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program while in dental school at Boston University, the position intrigued him. Housed at Valleywise’s McDowell Healthcare Center, the largest provider of HIV services in the state of Arizona, Dr. Brendemuhl would become part of a care team focused on the whole patient, rather than just their dental health.
“It’s medical, it’s dental, it’s behavioral health. It wasn’t dentistry and medicine, it was healthcare.” he said. “I was very inspired by that and it just seemed like such a natural fit for the type of dentistry that I like doing, which is comprehensive adult dentistry.”
Dr. Brendemuhl always knew that he wanted to do something in the medical field, but when he started looking into med school and residency requirements while in high school, he wasn’t sure becoming a doctor was the right fit. “So I started looking at other health care options,” he explained. Having had a great experience with his dentist growing up, Brendemuhl decided to inquire about dentistry. “He was an incredibly lovely, nice dentist, and he seemed to be happy and like his job - he was pretty laid back. And he told me a little bit about what it was like and what it took to get there and then he said that I’d have a good personality for it.”
Being an impressionable high schooler, Dr. Brendemuhl explained, this affirmation was all he needed to dive right in. It seemed like the right fit, too - healthcare, but without the intense shifts and life or death situations - still meeting his desire to help people. “You know, people don’t like going to the dentist, and I thought maybe I could make that easier for people. But I didn’t think through what kind of dentist I wanted to be.”
Specialization would come later. After gravitating towards general dentistry in school, Dr. Brendemuhl found that he enjoyed the variety of working with kids and adults in various situations. Right out of school, he spent a couple of years in private practice, which is the most common path for many dentists, but something was missing. “I was successful and happy, but never really fully connected. I didn’t find a whole lot of fulfillment in it.” So he began looking for other options and after finding the opportunity at Valleywise the rest is history.
Dr. Brendemuhl spent 11 years in the McDowell Health Care Center working solely with patients living with HIV before he was offered the opportunity to get more involved with teaching and education within the system. Not long after accepting these new responsibilities, Dr. Brendemuhl was appointed the chair of the department, with the chief task of starting Valleywise’s very own dental residency.
Prior to starting their own program, Valleywise had about 10 years of experience as a residency site for an outside sponsoring institution. When their partnership dissolved, Valleywise decided to create their own program, something unique to them.
“I was the one that was more or less tasked to put the program together - with a lot of help.” Dr. Brendemuhl said quite modestly. He set up the program and brought it to accreditation with the help of Valleywise leadership, Creighton University and the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program through the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. He still serves as the administrative officer and oversees the program director, with whom he works closely to ensure the quality and efficacy of the program.
Having worked to bring a residency to life in a federally qualified health center setting, Dr. Brendemuhl emphasizes the important role such programs have to play in the future of health care. “We have such a unique opportunity to train the next generation of caregivers,” he said. “I’m very biased, but the work that we do in public health and in these community health centers is the best version of care that we can give sometimes, right? It is not motivated by profit or by prestige. It’s motivated by care and compassion for patients from all walks of life, from all corners of the world. And no matter what their story is that brings them to us, it’s striving to provide that exceptional level of care.”
He sees the development of residency programs in community health settings as a way to try and give back to the next generation of dentists and caregivers.
“I know when I was a young dentist, when I was in dental school, I had so much help from other people that showed me how to be a better dentist, how to be a better person, how to engage in more meaningful ways. And so I feel like if I or my program can give back a fraction of the things that I’ve been given, I’m going to be happy about that.”
It’s more than obvious when speaking with Dr. Brendemuhl that he is passionate about not only the academic and medical directorships he holds, but more so the students and patients the programs themselves serve. 3RNET is proud to highlight his path and his work in community health, and grateful for his help in shining a light on the importance of care in our underserved communities.