SLP Students Explore Future Careers in Research in Study-Away Experience
Published July 28, 2023 By Darlene Muguiro UTEP College of Health Sciences
Second-year students in the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) program got a taste of what a future career in research might look like earlier this month during a two-week visit to the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW).
Following a competitive merit-based application process, five SLP students were selected to participate in the unique “faculty-led study away” course at UW focused on research experience and mentorship. Dr. Amelia Rau, clinical assistant professor of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, said the main goal of the experience was to immerse students in research topics and methods distinct of those currently available at UTEP. Ideally, this opportunity strengthens existing potential for further study in doctoral programs and a scholastic career in speech, language, and hearing sciences. Rau accompanied the students on their journey.
“Although sometimes mentorship happens naturally or by chance, our department and counterparts at UW believe in creating intentional and strategic milestone experiences that include one-on-one mentorship for students of diverse backgrounds with and without pre-existing knowledge about careers in academia,” she said.
In concert with their department chairs, Rau said the course was co-designed and facilitated with UW’s Dr. Carlos Benitez-Barrera to provide intensive lab experiences with leading experts in the field. Nine UW faculty participated, representing a breadth of topics, including the effects of dementia on communication; animal models of swallowing and voice in Parkinson’s disease; the impact of dual-diagnoses for autism and fragile X syndrome; auditory maturation in persons with Down syndrome; sound localization and cochlear implants; literacy outcomes in at-risk populations; neural imaging for listening effort and speech perception in noise; eye-gaze during novel word learning in bilingual children; and treating word-retrieval deficits in aphasia.
SLP student Sofia Carranza said she selected her assignment to Dr. Rita Kaushanskaya’s Language Acquisition and Bilingualism Laboratory because of her keen interest in the area. Prior to visiting UW, she said she thought academia was out of reach; she says the experience has opened “a new door of opportunity.” In addition to her master’s degree, she is pursuing a certificate in Bilingual Speech-Language Pathology and plans to incorporate what she learned at UW in her future clinical practice.
“I was surprised and intrigued by the amount of interest in bilingual research,” she said. “In clinicals, I always encounter these questions and it is often challenging to find the answers in the literature, since they’re not always reflective of the bilingual population. It was great to be exposed to people that encounter similar questions and are currently answering them to better serve this population.”
Fellow SLP student Lailani Chehedeh chose her assignment in neurodevelopmental disabilities due to personal and work experiences – her sister has Down syndrome and she currently works as a pediatric speech-language pathology assistant. In addition to meeting new people and being in a different environment, she was most impressed in learning how important research is to client care in the clinical setting – so impressed that she is considering a possible future career in academia.
“This experience provided me with opportunities to discover and grow new possibilities,” she said. “It also gave me a better understanding of what the PhD student process looks like. I have felt so supported and guided by UTEP and UW during this process.”
Rau said the department also looks forward to hosting UW faculty and students on the UTEP campus next. “As a part of America’s leading HSI, we aligned our hosting goals to UTEP’s 2030 Strategic Plan, in that we will also work to receive a UW delegation interested in our leadership in bilingual speech-language pathology for bilateral capacity building, which includes our faculty expertise in coursework, clinical practicum, and research development.”
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Go Miners!
For more information about the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program, please visit: www.utep.edu/chs/slp.