Speech-language pathology is a career opportunity that works with individuals and their families to treat speech-language disorders. Pathologists discuss issues with the patient and their families, suggest treatment options, and what exercises a patient can do to strengthen muscles. Sometimes, a Pathologist also conducts treatment for the fastest recovery of patients.
With the increasing demand for Pathologists at educational institutes, hospitals, and nursing centers, it was estimated 27% growth of Pathologists in all sectors till 2028. If you too want to establish your career as a Pathologist, simply follow these 5 steps:
1. Learn About Occupation
To begin with a pathology career, you must obtain 4 key skills such as – Speaking, listening, patience, and compassion. These skills help you to understand patient needs. With these, pathologists gather all medical information about patients and conduct language and hearing tests. These will help you to decide on specific therapy. If a person suffers from swallowing difficulty, you need to treat a patient with swallowing therapy. A lot more about treating options recommended in school programs.
2. Must have a Bachelor Degree
To lead a successful career in speech-language pathology, you need a master’s degree in speech-language pathology. But, you can only apply for a master’s if you have a bachelor’s degree with the major subject in – American Sign Language, speech and hearing science, or communication sciences and disorders as major subjects. In this program, you will gain knowledge about human phonetics, language function and development, speech and language development, hearing science, and sign language. It will help you to provide information about the profession as well as you will get clinical experience.
3. Pursue a Masters Degree
To pursue a career in psychology, you will need to obtain a master’s degree in speech-language pathology from one of the renowned institutions. Know more about speech pathology graduate programs courses and eligibility criteria on their websites. You will also learn about their class topics for disorders such as speech, language, social communication, cognitive-communication, swallowing. If you want to work individually, you can also look for a doctorate degree.
4. Get State License
To get a pathologist license you need to fulfill several requirements. You have to get a certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP) via the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. This certificate fulfills state language program requirements. In addition to this, you need to spend minimum clinical hours experience (400 hours or based on state requirements).
5. Look for Advance Opportunities
A master’s degree and years of experience help you to get advantages of advanced career opportunities. You can join at a supervisor or mentoring position. You can also become an expert in the speech-language pathology field by participating as professional educational guest speakers at various conferences. It motivates you to learn more and share your experience with others for how to treat patients especially children with speech disorders.
Summary!!
Choosing pathology as career opportunities offer you great motivation to help society and be a part of one most lucrative job opportunity. As per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary in 2018 is $77,510, which is a great sum compared to others.
Leave a Reply