159: Thinking Outside the Box: Increasing Students’ Confidence/Competence in Dysphagia Management at the Graduate Level with Ainsley S. Martin, MS, CCC-SLP
The majority of graduates from speech pathology graduate programs do not feel they are adequately prepared to manage dysphagia. This is often as a result of lack of clinical experience, limited educational and clinical instruction, and questionable supervision quality. Novel approaches to dysphagia education at the graduate level such as incorporating problem-based learning, providing opportunities for interprofessional education, the implementation of hands-on dysphagia labs, and partnering with clinicians in the community can help to make graduate students more competent and confident in dysphagia management .
Key Takeaway:
Novel approaches in both the educational and clinical instruction of dysphagia management can not only improve graduate students competence and confidence, but it can also have a powerful impact on improving clinical practice and ultimately patient outcomes.
Resources
2019 SLP Health Care Survey: Practice issues - american speech-language ... (n.d.-a). https://www.asha.org/siteassets/surveys/2019-slp-hc-survey-practice-issues.pdf
Affoo, R., Bruner, J., Dietsch, A., Nellenbach, C., Jones, T., & Lehman, M. (2020). The impact of active learning in a speech-language pathology swallowing and dysphagia course. Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.30707/tlcsd4.2/popg6689
Ball, K. A., & Riquelme, L. F. (2016). The graduate dysphagia course: Opening the door to new frontiers. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 1(13), 104–112. https://doi.org/10.1044/persp1.sig13.104
Bartlett, R. S., Bruecker, S., & Eccleston, B. (2021). High-fidelity simulation improves long-term knowledge of clinical swallow evaluation. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 30(2), 673–686. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_ajslp-20-00240
Caesar, L. G., & Kitila, M. (2020). Speech-language pathologists’ perceptions of their preparation and confidence for providing dysphagia services. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 5(6), 1666–1682. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_persp-20-00115
Carnaby, G. D., & Harenberg, L. (2013). What is “Usual care” in Dysphagia rehabilitation: A survey of USA dysphagia practice patterns. Dysphagia, 28(4), 567–574. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00455-013-9467-8
Dysphagia Competency Verification Tool Users Guide - Asha. (n.d.-b). https://www.asha.org/siteassets/practice-portal/dysphagia-competency-verification-tool-users-guide.pdf
Dysphagia resources for the SLP. Dysphagia Cafe. (2022, August 28). https://dysphagiacafe.com/2016/10/21/standardized-patients-bridging-clinical-gap-dysphagia-education/%C2%A0
Kelly, H., Cronin, M., Hynes, H., Duxbury, S., & Twomey, O. (2021). Learning to swallow together: Medical and speech and language therapy student interprofessional learning about dysphagia. Advances in Communication and Swallowing, 24(1), 21–32. https://doi.org/10.3233/acs-210027
Khayat, M., Hafezi, F., Asgari, P., & Talebzadeh Shoushtari, M. (2020). Comparing the effectiveness of flipped and traditional teaching methods in problem-solving learning and self-determination among university students. Journal of Medical Education, 19(3). https://doi.org/10.5812/jme.110069
McCoy, Y & Varindani Desai, R. (2016). Adequacy of dysphagia graduate preparation in the United States: Results of national survey. Poster presented at the Dysphagia Research Society Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ.
Nandamudi, S., McKnight, A., & Baird, K. (2023). Dysphagia interprofessional collaborative practice and team-based learning in graduate curriculum for students in healthcare disciplines: A pilot study. Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice, 30, 100588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xjep.2022.100588
Sia, I., Halan, S., Lok, B., & Crary, M. A. (2016). Virtual patient simulation training in graduate dysphagia management education—a research-led enhancement targeting development of clinical interviewing and clinical reasoning skills. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 1(13), 130–139. https://doi.org/10.1044/persp1.sig13.130
SLP Health Care Survey Report: Annual salary trends 2005–2021 - Asha. (n.d.-c). https://www.asha.org/siteassets/surveys/2021-slp-health-care-survey-annual-salary-trends.pdf
Speech-language pathology graduate student clinicians’ self-perceived competency in Dysphagia Management. (2022). Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences and Disorders, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.30707/tlcsd6.3.1664996985.113836
Stead, A., Lemoncello, R., Fitzgerald, C., Fryer, M., Frost, M., & Palmer, R. (2020). Clinical simulations in academic courses: Four case studies across the medical SLP graduate curriculum. Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.30707/tlcsd4.3/acvj1784
Vose, A. K., Kesneck, S., Sunday, K., Plowman, E., & Humbert, I. (2018). A survey of clinician decision making when identifying swallowing impairments and determining treatment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 61(11), 2735–2756. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_jslhr-s-17-0212
Wagner, E. M., & Malandraki, G. A. (2016). The development and impact of a university-based Dysphagia Research Clinic in the education of Graduate Students. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 1(13), 113–121. https://doi.org/10.1044/persp1.sig13.113
Weir-Mayta, P., Green, S., Abbott, S., & Urbina, D. (2020). Incorporating IPE and simulation experiences into graduate speech-language pathology training. Cogent Medicine, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331205x.2020.1847415
Thanks for these great resources, ainsley!
Ainsley S. Martin, MS, CCC-SLP
Guest Speaker Bio:
Ainsley S. Martin, MS, CCC-SLP is a medical speech-language pathologist in Central NY. She is the owner of State of Mind Speech & Swallowing, a mobile outpatient practice serving adults and geriatrics. She also provides mobile FEES, staffing services for skilled nursing facilities, CFY mentorship, and dementia education as well as public speaking coaching. Ainsley has also worked in skilled nursing, per diem acute care, and in academia as adjunct clinical faculty for Syracuse University. She is a graduate of the ASHA Leadership Development Program for healthcare and serves in numerous roles for both her state and regional associations. Ainsley is passionate about promoting evidence-based practice and mentoring the next generation of speech-language pathologists, particularly in dysphagia.
Leigh Ann Porter, MA, CCC-SLP
Host Bio:
Leigh Ann Porter is a medical SLP in San Jose, California. Building on a passion for education and implementing best practice approaches, Leigh Ann created the Speech Uncensored Podcast to connect medical SLPs with meaningful resources, emerging research, and practical tools. Leigh Ann’s goal is to empower and connect SLPs to enhance our profession and accelerate the research to practice pipeline. One of her passions is learning and sharing simple and impactful therapy techniques. In addition to nerding out on medical speech pathology, Leigh Ann loves hiking at national parks, exploring waterways on her stand up paddle board, and enjoying a delicious meal with friends and family.
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