Speech Language Pathology

What is Speech Language Pathology?

• Help to make a treatment plan for patients to help them improve their communication skills depending on their personal needs.

• Patients with speech problems typically have suffered a stroke or head trauma.

• Work in hospitals, schools, research institutes, health clinics, and private practices.

About Deb O’Connor: Speech Language Pathologist

• Deborah O’Connor• Speech Language Pathologist • Bryan Lincoln General Hospital East• Performs X-rays, diagnostics, and evaluations. The

nature of the work is extremely fast-paced and busy. It involves a lot of people interaction.

• The job environment is usually a treatment facility, however many speech language pathologists travel between multiple facilities. There are not many physical demands, but some patients are emotionally demanding and it can be stressful.

Rewards

• The main reward of this career is the satisfaction of knowing that you helped someone so they can get better.

• Earnings– Nationally: $57,710– Locally: $49,390

Personality Traits and Skills

• It is necessary that a person working in this profession be friendly and caring, have patience, and be responsible. Being friendly and having patience helps with the patient interaction. You have to be responsible for caring for the patients and getting your work done.

• My true colors said that I am Blue and enjoy helping people, being optimistic, and being caring. These are all things that would mesh well with this profession.

Interview with Deb O’ConnorDeb chose her

occupation because she wanted to be

involved with something medical and

working with people. She has been working as a Speech Language

Pathologist for 20 years and has a

Masters Degree in Speech Pathology.

Lifestyle and Work Values• Leader- This is one of my top values from the COPES testing. This meshes really well with being a Speech Language Pathologist because you need to be able to take charge of a situation and get your patients seen and diagnosed.

• Social- My second highest value from the COPES test was Social. This is definitely a factor when working with patients. You need to be able to communicate with them and tell them what is going on. You also need to communicate with other doctors and nurses.

• Aesthetic- This was another of my top values from the COPES test. This doesn’t really have much to do with this profession. You can’t be as creative with this job as I would like.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for the nation:

There are 3,776 job openings per year and there were 96,000 Speech Language Pathologists in 2004.

The job outlook for the state:

There are 341 job openings per year and there were 1,012 Speech Language Pathologists in 2004.

Education and Certification• Major in:

– Speech Pathology or Audiology

• Licensing requirements are: – Completion of a Masters Degree– 300-375 hours of supervised experience, and nine months of

post graduate professional clinical experience.

• Schools that offer the program:– University of Nebraska Lincoln

• $12,930 for 4 years

• Amount of Time:– Masters Degree: 2-3 years– PhD: 5 years

Best and Worst

Best: I think the best thing about this job would be interacting with all of the different patients.

Worst: The worst thing about this job is the long hours (sometimes up to 40-50 hours per week) and the inconsistency of the caseload.

CAPS, COPS, COPES

• CAPS: Service Professional, Business Professional, Communication, and Science Professional

• COPS: Service Professional, Business Skilled, and Arts Skilled

• COPES: Service Professional, Arts Skilled, and Business Skilled

Most Dominant: Service Professional

Summary of Job Shadow

The job shadow itself was pretty fun. I liked going out and seeing what I this job is really like. It is a lot different from just researching it on the internet. I liked

interacting with all of the patients and how unpredictable everything was.

Pursuing this Career

I think this career is one that I would like to continue to pursue, however I also want to keep my options open and be look into other careers

as well.

Bibliography• Interview with Deb O’Connor

• Job Shadow worksheet

• Career Details for Speech-Language Pathologist. (2008). Career Cruising. Retrieved January 4, 2008, from

Career Cruising database.

• Understanding the Modified Barium Swallow Study. (2008). Radiographic Imaging CEU Source, LLCC. Retrieved January 4, 2008, from http://www.radiographicceu.com/article23.html