Join Robert Serianni, MS, CCC-SLP, FNAP, the chair and program director of the department of Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) at Salus University, as he speaks with speech-language pathology students from Chung Shan Medical University (CSMU) in Taiwan:
Jessy Huang
Ruby Huang
Peggy Xie
Jenny Yang
Serianni: I'm so happy to have met all of you. I know that it was a process to get you here to study. We actually started planning this before the pandemic and had to cancel over the last two summers. I don't even think you were students at CSMU when we started this program, but we are lucky that you are here with us.
Why are you interested in speech pathology?
Ruby Huang: Originally, I want to study in medicine, but I found out that my interest is interacting with people and to talk to someone. I hope I can release their pain by talking. I think SLP is what I want, so I choose this for my major.
Xie: I like talking. I want to help people who have speech problems be able to enjoy the pleasure of speaking.
Jessy Huang: Seeing progress of the patients made me feel a sense of accomplishment. So, this is why I'm interested in speech pathology.
Yang: The reason why I'm interested in speech pathology is because I like interacting with children and would like to build deeper relationships with the patients. And I would like to improve them as a therapy.
Serianni: I'm really impressed with the rationales for you studying speech pathology. I don't know why, but originally, I thought that they would be different reasons than why students in the U.S. also choose to study speech pathology but I hear the words that you're saying coming out of their mouths also.
Where do you think you'll start working once you become a speech pathologist?
Ruby Huang: Once I become a speech pathologist, I think I will first work in the hospital because in hospital I can see the various kind of patient there and it will help me to accumulate my experience when handling situations.
Xie: I want to be a pediatric SLP after I graduate. Speech defect will affect all around development of children and the earlier we can fix the problem, the sooner children can catch up with others, helping children getting better step-by-step and have them graduate from SLP sounds fantastic. And that's my dream job.
Jessy Huang: I'm interested in adult therapy because it enables me to get in touch with people from different fields like lawyers, engineers, businessmen, and there are more topics we can talk about. So, I'm interested in adults therapy.
Yang: I prefer having therapy with the children and working in the Institute because I think I could have more chance to interact with children and make deeper relationships with patients.
Serianni: Here in the U.S., a majority of the SLPs work in the school, but in Taiwan, I understand majority work in hospitals or in clinics in your communities. So, seeing that differentiation has been really exciting for me. The other thing I've been really excited about is to expose you to the different aspects of the curriculum here at Salus University. What has been one of the best or most fun things you've gotten to do while you've been here at Salus?
Ruby Huang: I think the best and the most fun thing is having Professor Bob's class because he always provides us with some very vivid, very lively examples. And I think it is really helpful for our studying and I think it is the best thing I study at Salus.
Xie: For me, the most fun thing I have ever done in Salus is making the swallowing liquid with the nectar consistency thickener. In Taiwan, I only had the lecture about general introduction of dysphagia and during this training program, I get an experience of making the liquid and taste it. As an SLP in the future, we're supposed to try the thing that we are going to do on our patients. We also had a case observation of patient who had this dysphagia, combining the lecture in the class and the observation in the clinic makes me have more specific understanding about dysphagia. And I really enjoy learning in this way.
Jessy Huang: I think the observation part is cool because we can discover the differences between the USA and Taiwan.
Yang: For me, I think the best thing is the pre-brief and debrief time. In that time, I could digest the information and have enough time to think about what I observed and I could ask the questions instantly, which helps me to learn more.
Serianni: We really did design this program to give you these micro experiences, coupled with the patient observations, because we feel like here in our program, our students learn best by doing, so they hear about the topics, they learn about the theories and then they instantly get to go put it into practice. Having those opportunities to really get some hands-on experiences, get those observations, talk with the professors and the clinical educators in that pre-brief and debrief time is really important learning aspects.
What are the similarities about studying here at Salus than in Taiwan or what have you noticed that's been different?
Ruby Huang: Actually, the same thing as the SLP framework in Taiwan, always follows up with America. And since most of our professors, they got their PhD in the states, they also keep us updated about the latest information of speech therapy from ASHA. And besides that, the major courses are also the same, the big nine categories of SLP and the anatomy class, which make the classes and observation in Salus more understandable and making more like an English version lecture.
Xie: The biggest difference that made me impressed was the evaluation tool for aphasia. There's an evaluation tool code assessment for living with aphasia. It's mainly focused on how aphasia affects individuals' lives, which is very different from other evaluation tools that are focused on functional speech. And there's a skill for patients to see how aphasia affects the personal aspect, social participation, and environment in their lives. It helps the clinicians to come up with therapy that is much suitable for patients who need to live with aphasia.
Jessy Huang: I think in America, the development of speech and language pathology is more mature than it is in Taiwan, in our country. A therapist has to deal with so many clients, especially for those who need intensive care. Therefore, not like USA. We don't have that much effort to provide the services like voice therapy, transgender voice therapy, accent correction, and so on. So, it is a very precious chance for us to see many kinds of patients.
Yang: And there are the differences in the material and training aids. In Taiwan, we usually use cards, story books, or toys to do therapy. However, we can see a lot of electronic equipment like iPads being used in the session. Therapists use some apps to test the voice or make the slides to make activities more interesting and interactive. Thus, I think it's a great thing we can learn from the states.
Serianni: The opportunity to really experience all the facets of the program is how we've designed the clinic, and I'm glad that's recognized by you all as you study here. What is one thing that you've learned here that you're going to bring back to your program at CSMU?
Xie: I think the most important thing I've learned here is to learn based on curiosity. As the only freshman in this clinical training program, everything is new to me. I have lots of possibility and can take so much new information, just like a sponge. I know it is impossible for me to learn everything within a month, but I can make the connection between what I have seen there and the lecture, when I get back to Taiwan. It is really a precious experience to me to be there.
Jessy Huang: I think the clinician's enforcement is really great. They can always compliment their patients very sincerely, learn a lot from them.
Yang: For me, I think it is the material. Therapists here will refer to many task books or worksheets to make their own material that is suitable to the patients and design different kinds of activities but focus on the same goal. I think I've learned much from it and will apply to the therapy in the future.
Ruby Huang: I think for me it is the progress of observation. I learned a lot from here, how and what to observe, and it’s really helpful. And I can learn from the students mistake because I know that is the mistake we will certainly make, and we can learn from them. And also, we can learn a lot of the techniques the clinician used and so on. So, I think it is very fulfill for me.
