Her entire family works in healthcare in some capacity, so the dinner table discussions when Kaitlyn Dietz, MS, CCC-SLP, was growing up often had to do with both the clinical and administrative aspects of healthcare.
“I don’t want to say that I didn’t have a choice, because I certainly did, but those were the conversations I grew up listening to adults have in my life,” said Dietz, who joined the faculty of the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) department in June 2024.
“When it came time to figure out what I wanted to do, what I wanted to study in school, my mom was like why don’t you come and shadow the speech therapist at work? I think you’d be really good at it.”
That turned out to be wise parental advice.
Originally from Richboro, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Dietz earned her undergraduate degree in speech-language pathology from Bloomsburg University in 2007. She immediately entered the SLP master’s program at Bloomsburg and graduated in 2009.
For the next 13 years, Dietz served as a speech pathologist at Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Center in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, where she split time between the inpatient and outpatient stroke units.
For the past seven years, Moss and Salus University’s SLP department have collaborated on a lab agreement, so Dietz taught motor speech labs for the Salus SLP graduate students. That proved to be a nice segue into her first foray into academia.
Dietz started at the University in January 2024 in a part-time capacity, and when a full-time opportunity presented itself in the SLP department, she jumped at the chance.
“I love it. I’m having a great time. It’s just a really nice mix of the clinical piece that I love and have done for so long,” she said. “Healthcare can be really rigorous and time-intensive. Teaching is all of that but in a different font. It’s a little less stressful and a little less intense, but I still get to do the things that I really like.”
Dietz’s clinical specialties include cerebrovascular accident (CVA), also known as a stroke or brain attack, cognitive-communication disorders, and aphasia. She has a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; state licensure, Pennsylvania; is a Certified VitalStim/DINES Therapy Provider (initial certification 2011, recertified 2019); and is a SPEAK OUT! Certified Therapy Provider.
When’s she not working, Dietz enjoys music, including alternative, indie, and emo. She plays piano and guitar and is also a trained singer. She loves spending time down the shore with her family which includes her husband Mike and their two children, Lukas, 7, and Ethan, 18 months.
“I’m really looking forward to sinking my teeth into this position,” said Dietz. “I’m just starting, learning the ropes, taking on things here and there but I’m excited to learn about all the things that this program does and then over time, figure out what I have to specifically contribute from my years of experience and what ways I can help shape this program as it progresses.”
