Alumna finds joy in increasing health access to the underserved

Sept. 16, 2024 ― DENTON ― Cynthia Chennault loves what she does. As a clinical dental hygienist and a commissioned public health officer, she is dedicated to improving oral health and providing access to care to individuals and communities in underserved and rural areas. 

Chennault serves in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps as an active-duty health services commander. She also is a proud alumna of Texas Woman’s.

And so, it is fitting that Chennault is returning to Texas Woman’s and the Denton campus to participate in the Empowering Women for Rural Healthcare Leadership lecture series. She is the first of three speakers that will discuss rural health and leadership in Fall 2024. 

The series, open to TWU and the local community, began with three female speakers in Spring 2024. The series is funded through a grant from TWU’s Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership and is a collaboration between the College of Health Sciences and the College of Nursing.

Chennault’s lecture on oral health and community planning is scheduled for Sept. 17 at 4:30 p.m. Register in advance for in-person or webstream attendance. 

“I hope to inform all the participants of the importance of oral health and its relationship to general health,” Chennault said. “And hopefully just give them a different lens to look through in terms of community and creating a solid prevention program that is going to help them to improve the overall health of the individuals in that community.” 

Since graduating in 2008, Chennault has returned to Denton annually to talk to dental hygiene students about her career path and working in public health and the federal agencies.

“There are different pathways that you can go into working in the federal service,” Chennault said. “I happen to be a United States Public Health officer, which is a little bit different because that in itself is part of a job as well. We are one of the eight  uniformed services of government. Even though I am a dental hygienist and I was commissioned as a clinical dental hygienist, we are on call 24/7. We are health responders.”

Most people are familiar with the five armed forces but they may not be as familiar with the U.S. Public Health Service, which works to protect the health of the United States population. 

Chennault works as a senior public health analyst for the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA). She oversees oral health training grants that support dentists, dental hygienists and dental specialists in treating populations in underserved and rural communities.

“We basically want to see that students are getting exposed to going out and serving in rural communities and training,” Chennault said. “What we are finding is that when they have these experiences during their education that they are more willing to go out and serve these communities once they have been exposed and have the proper training.” 

Chennault was inspired to pursue a career in public service thanks to TWU professor emeritus Christine Beatty, who taught the community health class at the time. 

“I didn’t know that there was this whole big world of how you can not just serve in the prison system, in the Indian Health services,” Chennault said. “There are also dental hygienists that work for the CDC and FDA. I loved that there were other avenues that you can serve and have this expansive career path." 

One of the goals of the lecture series is to cast a light on the scarcity of services and opportunities for healthcare in rural communities. In September 2023, Texas Woman’s broke ground on a $107 million, 136,000 square-foot health sciences center that will serve as an interprofessional education facility linking students in the allied health fields with an emphasis on preparing them to serve in rural settings.

Chennault is excited about her opportunity to give students a glimpse of what it looks like to serve in an underserved community. 

“Getting the opportunity to work with some of the most rural and underserved communities that have decay rates 3 times the regular U.S. general population has just been an extraordinary privilege,” Chennault said.