The Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) department at Salus recently welcomed three new faculty members; Anne Marie Ruckdeschel, MA, CCC-SLP; Jennifer Bergstrom, EdD, CCC-SLP; and Deanna Yoder-Black, SLPD, CCC-SLP.
Although a new faculty member, Ruckdeschel has been at Salus for seven years as a part-time clinical educator in the Speech-Language Institute (SLI) on the Elkins Park, Pennsylvania campus. Now she will continue her clinical education role but on a full-time basis. “I had some life opportunities open up for me to be able to take a full-time role,” said Ruckdeschel. “I love the clinical aspect of what I do, and I find Salus such a great place to work, and at SLI in particular, we get such a lovely opportunity to work with clients and students at the same time. The opportunity to do this work on a full-time basis as well as being more involved in the University at large seemed like the right fit for me.”
Ruckdeschel emphasizes and credits her per diem work and flexibility to the opening of this opportunity. “My entire career has been about being open to opportunities, I have started almost every position in a per diem, make it work, kind of way,” she said. “I am very fortunate and want to encourage students to be open-minded about how they can make things work until the right opportunity opens up.”
Dr. Bergstrom joined the SLP department as an assistant professor, responsible for instructing pediatric language courses as well as coursework in professional issues and ethics. She also will be conducting research and working with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices.
As a side project, Dr. Bergstrom will be working to expand the University’s international education opportunities with a focus on AAC devices. “The University’s interest in global education is very unique,” she said. “Salus is very interested in advancing in all facets of education, and this is an opportunity I am excited to work on in the future.”
Prior to coming to Salus, Dr. Bergstrom worked at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for eight years as a clinical educator while pursuing her doctorate. “My mentor once said ‘you can never thrive in the place you grew up in’,” said Dr. Bergstrom. “Salus is a breath of fresh air, I’ve seen such a positive outlook and attitude from the community. And, I was very grateful to be offered a position.”
Dr. Yoder-Black joins the University’s SLP department after working as a traveling speech therapist for an allied health company. She bounced between hospitals working in a variety of settings including both inpatient and outpatient rehab, skilled nursing, and an acute care hospital. While working for the allied health staffing company, Dr. Yoder-Black had the opportunity to assist with building the speech pathology component of a brain injury program for the military. Later she was instrumental in building a neurogenic rehabilitation program for a free-standing clinical facility in Alaska.
Salus has a lot of similarities to the institution where she completed her doctorate degree, which made her transition to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania feel all the more welcoming. As an assistant professor, Dr. Yoder-Black will be responsible for teaching the adult language track, specifically Aphasia and right hemisphere disorders, a counseling class, traumatic brain injury and Dementia, as well as a research class. In the near future, she will be supervising student clinicians and their clients in SLI.
“I am very excited to teach the classes I am responsible for, it is right up my alley,” said Dr. Yoder-Black. “I have spent most of my career in adult neurogenetics so to be able to teach students and share with them what I’ve learned and my experiences is a lot of fun.”
