Grad program accredited
New speech-language pathology master's program to launch this fall
8:18 a.m., March 24, 2016--The University of Delaware College of Health Sciences’ newest degree program, a master of arts in speech-language pathology, is officially ready to launch.
With a massive shortage of speech-language pathologists (SLPs), the First State desperately needed a graduate program so the University tapped Aquiles Iglesias to bring it to life.
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“Up until now, there was no master’s level program in Delaware,” says Iglesias, director of the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program. “People were forced to study out of state; therefore, the great majority stayed out of state, creating a dead zone of services for Delawareans.”
Iglesias received the official accreditation letter from the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
But the applications had already flooded in well before the accreditation news ever arrived. More than 300 applied for 25 spots in the inaugural cohort, which embarks this fall. Housed in the Health Sciences Complex on UD’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus, the program is full-time — two years in duration, it includes two winter and one summer session. Students will take classes such as Neurogenic Disorders of Language, Language Disorders in School-Age Children, and Voice and Resonance Disorders.
“The curriculum offers professional scholarship through clinical work and collaborative research,” says Jacquie Truluck, director of clinical education.
In addition to the courses, the graduate students will work with clients at the Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, which has gained tremendous popularity since its doors opened late last year. The clinic’s clients range in age from toddler to elderly. And they’ve come to STAR Health from across the state — North Wilmington, Middletown, and even Seaford — to work with top-tier SLPs, who are already in place and seeing clients even before the students arrive. These SLPs will serve as mentors for the maiden group of students.
In the students’ second year, they will take their knowledge out into the community, completing externships in hospitals, agencies, sub-acute nursing facilities and schools.
In addition to teaching the next generation of SLPs, the fresh-faced program is attracting communication sciences and disorders researchers to its STAR Campus home. The program will research everything from neural underpinning of language learning to effective treatments approaches for individuals with aphasia or Parkinson’s disease.
“Our faculty and students will use research to improve the quality of care for Delawareans with speech, language and hearing disorders,” says Iglesias, whose own research interests include language development of dual language learners and assessment of language disorders in bilingual children.
Another group of people who stand to benefit from the new program are SLPs practicing across the region. The College of Health Sciences site was designed as a resource hub for SLPs, helping them keep up on the latest developments, methodologies and research.
“Our facility is meant to be an information center – a training site for others. Whether it’s learning about new assessment tools or intervention approaches, we want SLPs to reach out and visit. We want to make their jobs easier,” Iglesias says.
Upon completion of their degree, students will apply for certification in speech-language pathology from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and licensure as an SLP in Delaware.
Article by Dante LaPenta
Photo by Evan Krape