Speech Pathologist Reflection Essay

Prior to the enrollment in this course, I had little to no understanding nor experience about the SLP profession. I was originally a biology major until I realized that it was not for me. I decided to pick this major because UWG only have a handful of good majors here where I would be guaranteed a job after I graduate and this was one of those majors. I did research on speech language pathologists, but only basic research such as, the definition of speech pathologists, how to become speech pathologists, and the salary of a speech pathologist. I was unaware of how much SLPs do; I thought they only helped children/adults with speech disorders. I was also unaware of the unlimited choices of work settings you could choose to work at; I thought SLPs worked in either a school or private practice. I was aware that I would have to work and study hard to become an SLP because that is what everyone kept saying in YouTube videos and websites, but I did not realize
how much I was going to struggle doing so.

Out of all the courses I have taken this semester, this class was most beneficial because I learned about the profession as a whole.
I learned about different communicative disorders. I learned what to do in order to diagnose, treat, and evaluate the patients by doing assessments, screenings, orofacial examinations, etc. to determine what type of disorder and the severity the patient may have. One of the lectures I found to be interesting was when we learned about dysphagia. I am aware that treating a patient with a swallowing disorder is one of the most dangerous things a SLP can do because the patient can possibly die while in our care, but I believe as long as we are trained well, there should not be a problem. It was interesting learning about the different phases and disorders involved in swallowing. Seeing modified barium swallow studies were attention grabbing to me because you get to see if a patient aspirates and you can visually see the liquids going down their pharynx into their esophagus or
trachea.

I loved that all of the classes taught the same information at times because it makes it easier on the student to see how all of the information connects together; it also makes it easier to comprehend and learn. For example, some of the information taught in this class (e.g. muscles of the larynx and vocal folds) were taught in Anatomy and Physiology. I will use the info I learned in this class to treat my patients more efficiently. I will have the knowledge to be able to identify certain disorders whether it is a brain disorder, communication disorder, swallowing disorder, etc. I will try to constantly refresh my memory with this information to prevent forgetting any of it because this information is crucial to know when I am doing observations and clinical. Because of the information that I obtained from this class, I may want to work in the hospital setting. I think it is so fascinating to see patients with these different types of disorders and being able to help them also is huge to me because I love to help people. To be able to successfully treat my future patients will be very rewarding to me because it will show that I am doing my job correctly and changing lives. I have grown to love this career. I cannot imagine myself doing anything else besides being a speech pathologist.