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6 JCPSLP Volume 14, Number 1 2012 Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
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in medical education. Medical Teacher , 33, 1–3.
Lincoln, M. (2009). A national snapshot of clinical
placements in Australia. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech,
Language and Hearing, Communication Disorders, 11(3),
169-170.
McAllister, S., Lincoln, M., Ferguson, A., & McAllister, L.
(2006). COMPASS(R): Competency assessment in speech
pathology. Melbourne: Speech Pathology Australia.
McAllister, L., Paterson, M., Higgs, J., & Bithell, C. (Eds.)
(2010). Innovations in allied health fieldwork education:
A critical appraisal. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense
Publishers.
McCabe, P., Purcell, A., Baker, E., Madill, C, & Trembath,
D. (2009). Case based learning: One route to evidence
based practice. Evidence-based Communication
Assessment and Intervention, 3 (4), 208–219.
Murdoch-Eaton, D., Redmond, A., & Bax, N.
(2011). Training healthcare professionals for the future:
Internationalism and effective inclusion of global health
training. Medical Teacher, 33, 562–569.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On
the Horizon, 9(5). Retrieved from .
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Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Ryan, S., & Patterson, M. (2010). Trends in health
professional education. Changing student populations. In
L. McAllister, M. Paterson, J. Higgs and C. Bithell (Eds.),
Innovations in allied health fieldwork education: A critical
appraisal (pp. 17–28). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense
Publishers.
Sheepway, L., Lincoln, M., & Togher, L. (2011). An
international study of clinical education practices in speech-
language pathology. International Journal of Speech-
Language Pathology, 13(2), 174–185.
Stevens, E., Peisker, M., Mathisen, B., & Woodward, S.
(2010). Challenges and benefits for students participating
in the Working with Developing Communities (WWDC)
(Vietnam) Program. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech,
Language, and Hearing, 12(2), 90–93.
Speech Pathology Australia (2011). Competency based
occupational standards for speech pathologists – Entry
level (revised). Melbourne: Author.
Theodoros, D., Davidson, B., Hill, A., & McBean, N.
(2010). Integration of simulated learning environments into
speech pathology clinical education curricula: A national
approach. Health Workforce Australia, Simulated Learning
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Webb, G., Fawns, R., & Harre, R. (2009). Professional
identity and communities of practice. In C. Delany and L.
Molloy (Eds.), Clinical education: Evidence, practice and
understanding (pp. 53–70). Chatswood, NSW: Elsevier.
scientific focus, and others still may bring a client-focused,
humanistic approach. Clinical educators are encouraged to
embrace and celebrate this diversity. Our international
assessment tool COMPASS® (McAllister, Lincoln,
Ferguson, & McAllister, 2006) asks clinical educators to rate
students’ developing competency performance against
behavioural descriptors, not against each other.
Educators need to resist the urge to “socialise”
students towards what they believe is the “typical” speech
pathologist. Professional socialisation is a well-documented
phenomenom with clinical educators being particularly
powerful role models (Webb, Fawns, & Harre, 2009). As
argued earlier the idea of a “typical” speech pathologist is
fast losing currency, as are traditional roles and workplaces
for speech pathologists. So, as educators, how do we
separate out our beliefs about what makes a “typical” or
“good “ speech pathologist and a competent one? Again
the solution is to compare what students do and think
to the COMPASS® (McAllister et al., 2006) behavioural
descriptors, not to our own internal beliefs about speech
pathology students.
Conclusion
While the above 10 challenges have many implications for
our profession, students, and university programs, the first
step is to embrace and celebrate our increasing diversity. A
failure to do this will mean that speech pathology as a
profession will not keep pace with an increasing proportion
of its members and will not have members well prepared to
meet the challenges ahead. This paper has not addressed
how we could meet the 10 challenges because that alone
is worthy of another paper and many long discussions with
colleagues. However, it is vital that as a starting point
universities and clinical educators in the workplace
collaborate to support diversity of students and educational
experiences while maintaining requirements for entry level
competence.
References
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diversity and implications for clinical competency
development: A “snapshot” of domestic and international
speech pathology students. Paper presented at Diversity
and Development, Annual Conference of the Speech
Pathology Association of Australia, Darwin.
Australian Government. (2009). Transforming Australia’s
higher education system. Barton, ACT: Commonwealth
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generation Y. Journal of Allied Health, 38 (4), 215–219.
Ferguson, A. (2006). Competency-based occupational
standards: Influences on Australian speech pathology
education. Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 58 , 23–31.
Hill, A., Davidson, B., & Theodoros, D. (2010). A review of
standardized patients in clinical education: Implications for
speech-language pathology programs. International Journal
of Speech-Language Pathology, 12(3), 259–270.
Health Workforce Australia (HWA). (2011). Welcome to
Health Workforce Australia. Retrieved from http://www.
Michelle Lincoln is Associate Dean Undergraduate Learning and
Teaching in the Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney,
and a speech pathologist.
Correspondence to:
Michelle Lincoln
The University of Sydney
PO Box 170
Lidcombe NSW 1825
phone: +61 (0)2 9680 9056
email: