Speak Out February 2018

SPOTLIGHT ON PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT

Mentoring program evaluation

Speech Pathology Australia has a commitment to ongoing quality improvement across all member services. As part of our evaluation of services to members, mentoring evaluations are sent to all participants in the mentoring program either 12 months post commencement of their partnership or when the partnership concludes. We are very grateful for all feedback received, so we can monitor, evaluate and improve the program as required. Below is a summary of evaluations and feedback for the program in 2017: • 90 mentoring partnerships were registered with the Speech Pathology Australia mentoring program. This is the largest number since the revised program commenced in 2014. • 46 people responded to the mentoring evaluation survey, 24 mentors and 22 mentees. • 90% of respondents found it easy to find a suitable mentee/mentor. It’s pleasing to see members are using a variety of professional networks to find mentors as well as using the Find a Mentor search on our website. We acknowledge for some people it does take longer to find a suitable match, but expect it will not take more than two months. • 91% of respondents reported having satisfactory levels of contact with their mentee/mentor. • The most common length of partnerships is longer than 12 months (40%), the most contact frequency of contact is monthly (44%), and the most common form of contact is via phone (51%). This year for the first time, skype was the second most common mode of contact (29%).

Many of the issues reported by both mentees and mentors come down to clear communication of expectations or changes in circumstances. If you would like a full copy of the Mentoring Evaluation results please contact psa@ speechpathologyaustralia.org.au . To register your mentoring partnerships in 2018 or for any information regarding mentoring contact Meredith Prain psa@ speechpathologyaustralia.org.au . Attention new graduates Welcome to your first year of practice. It is important for you to know that as a new graduate you automatically have provisional Certified Practising Speech Pathologist (CPSP) status. There are certain requirements you need to undertake this year in order to be eligible to progress to full CPSP status before you renew your membership in 2019. All the information you need can be found in the document, Information for Provisional CPSPs, which can be found at: www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/psr If you have any questions once you have read this document, please contact National Office on 1300 368 835 or office@ speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

Meredith Prain Professional Support Advisor

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February 2018 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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