Taiwan Students Get the Full Academic and Cultural Experience

For the past 15 years, Yun An (Cassidy) Liu has been interested in the sounds of acoustic music. She chose to become an audiologist because she wanted to learn more about acoustics.  

“I plan to study abroad after graduation, so I think this program is a good chance for me to broaden my horizons,” she said. 

And, she found exactly what she was looking for. Liu was one of eight students from Chung Shan Medical University (CSMU) in Taiwan to participate in a month-long clinical training program for Doctor of Audiology (AUD) and Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) students at the University’s Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, campus July 1 through July 25. The program was administered by Salus at Drexel University’s Division of Global, Interprofessional and Specialized Programming (GISP) department with the academic elements delivered by the Osborne College of Audiology and SLP. 

"This was another excellent cohort of students from Chung-Shan Medical University in Taiwan,” said Melissa Vitek, OD ‘95, FAAO, PNAP, dean of GISP. “We enjoyed seeing each student grow personally and professionally through the academic content, field trips, and cultural outings.” 

The learning objectives for audiology were defined and delivered under the leadership of Jonette Owen, AuD ‘03, MHA, FNAP, CH-A, associate dean for Clinical Education, and Robert Serianni, MS, CCC-SLP, FNAP, SLP chair and program director. Among those objectives for audiology were recognizing and describing the foundational concepts of Pure Tone air/bone Conduction Audiometry; understanding and interpreting test results to determine the type and degree of hearing; and to recognize and describe the foundational concepts of hearing aid assessments and to understand the process of hearing aid fittings. 

For SLP, the concepts taught to the students included gathering insight into treatment approaches used to minimize the effects of dysphagia; understanding the causes of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI); understanding the areas of cognition which are affected by people with TBI; and identifying general neuroanatomy relevant to cerebrovascular accidents and aphasia. 

SLP student Yu Syuan (Chloe) Liao’s favorite part of the program was learning more about autism spectrum disorder.  

“It’s my first time getting some of this type of knowledge. I think this helps me to know more deeply about speech-language pathology,” she said. “I will go to back to clinics in Taiwan and use this knowledge to do what I do in clinic with autism and developmental disorders.” 

During their time in the program, the CSMU students were also exposed to academic field trips and cultural experiences. Audiology students were able to visit the Oticon Hearing Aid plant, and SLP students visited the TechOWL Community Space at Temple University. Cultural experiences included trips to Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell and other sights, New York City, and Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. 

Both Liu and Liao were visiting the United States for the first time, and they particularly liked seeing the Liberty Bell and experiencing the stone streets of Chestnut Hill.  

“America is a world that I’ve never touched before, only watched on TV,” said Liao. “I never imagined that I would be here. When I passed the program interview, I was excited to come.” 

Liu said she enjoyed the U.S. lifestyle she observed but admitted to not yet having adapted to the food. “The culture here is very fascinating,” she said. “We liked Chestnut Hill so much we went there twice.” 

Dr. Vitek thanked Margie Singer, MEd, academic coordinator; Sarah Tinkoff, MEd, senior academic coordinator; and Stella Lee, academic coordinator, for ensuring the program was an enriching experience for the students.