Meet Emma, Lown’s public health intern

Emma Travis is a Master of Public Health student at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine.

I’ve always seen dentistry as a field dedicated to alleviating pain and restoring confidence through a healthy smile. However, as I advanced in my education, I began to recognize the systemic gaps that leave far too many people without access to even the most basic dental care. My interest in public health was sparked by a pivotal experience early in my clinical exposure: treating a young patient who needed full upper and lower dentures due to severe, preventable decay—an outcome that could have been avoided if earlier treatment had been accessible and affordable. A series of barriers, including geographic challenges and lack of preventive education, delayed this patient’s care. Despite having Medicaid coverage, they could not find a provider within an hour’s drive who accepted their insurance, highlighting a systemic failure in healthcare delivery.  This issue is part of a broader pattern of disparity, as their parents also lost their teeth at a young age, demonstrating how these systemic failures persist across generations. That experience prompted me to ask deeper, more probing questions–why had this happened, and how could the system have intervened earlier?

My perspective broadened further during my time in Tanzania, where I studied the impact of tourism on the local culture and economy. During my time there, I saw firsthand how limited access to preventive care and health education led to severe oral health issues. Many locals showed visible signs of dental decay and infections, yet their upbeat demeanor often masked the pain they were experiencing. Witnessing preventable conditions go untreated due to a lack of resources reinforced my commitment to addressing systemic barriers to care, starting with preventive education. I began to see how oral health–like many aspects of healthcare–is deeply intertwined with broader social and economic structures, yet it remains largely siloed in policy discussions. 

Pursuing my Master of Public Health at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College has allowed me to explore these issues further, particularly through the lens of health policy reform. My focus has centered on advocating for policies that expand access to preventive dental care for Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries, recognizing that early intervention not only improves health outcomes but also reduces long-term healthcare costs. Through my work at Dartmouth, I’ve come to understand that meaningful change doesn’t just happen in clinical settings, but also takes place in legislative chambers, research initiatives, and public health advocacy. This perspective has shaped my work on a recent policy white paper, which explored how reclassifying periodontal treatment as a preventive service could remove coverage barriers and advance both equity and cost-efficiency in care.

As an intern at the Lown Institute, I am excited to contribute to research efforts that identify and address inequities in hospital financial assistance and debt collection practices, ensuring that policies designed to help patients do not unintentionally create barriers to care. I look forward to expanding my knowledge on the structural drivers of health disparities, resource allocation in healthcare, and the broader intersections of policy and public health. This opportunity allows me to engage with critical issues beyond that of oral health, deepening my understanding of how financial and systemic inequities shape health outcomes. Moving forward, I hope to use this experience to advocate for more equitable healthcare policies and work toward a system where access to quality healthcare is a right, not a privilege.