Clinical Experiences

General Guidelines

Master’s degree students must participate in clinical experiences (practica) at a variety of sites that serve a range of clients. Practica include full-day, half-day, and individual and group sessions that may be held once to several times a week.

You are expected to perform supervised assessment and/or intervention in at least three different practicum sites.

At the UW Speech and Hearing Clinic (UWSHC), clinical supervision is provided by department faculty and clinical professors. At other on- or off-campus sites, clinical supervision is provided by department staff and the professional staff at the site.

All clinical programs affiliated with the department provide supervision according to the Membership & Certification Guidelines for Audiology or for Speech-Language Pathology and subscribe to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Code of Ethics.

In addition, all speech-language pathologists who provide clinical supervision hold the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC–SLP) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and meet other requirements that have been identified for clinical supervisors.

Recommendation for Certificate of Clinical Competence

If you wish to complete requirements for the Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC), you must demonstrate clinical performance consistent with the minimum standards established by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

Your performance should reflect increasing levels of clinical skill and independence over the course of the master’s program. If you complete the academic requirements for an M.S. in Communicative Disorders, and also meet or exceed the minimum standards for clinical performance established by ASHA, you will be recommended for the master’s degree and for consideration for clinical certification by ASHA.

If you complete only the academic requirements for an M.S. in Communicative Disorders, you will be recommended only for the master‘s degree.

Department faculty, clinical professors, and lecturers have the sole responsibility and authority to document the satisfactory completion of academic courses. Faculty, clinical professors, staff liaison persons and external site supervisors with the appropriate CCC have the sole responsibility and authority to document clinical practicum hours earned under their supervision.

Professionalism

Below is a modification of an article written by Professor Emeritus Michael Chial that originally appeared in Audiology Today 10 (4) July, 1998, p 25.

Although originally directed at audiologists, the article is equally applicable to speech-language pathologists. Following these guidelines will keep you in good stead throughout your graduate study and also in your future professional life.

Conveying Expectations About Professional Behavior

Only three learned professions were recognized as such at the beginning of this century: law, medicine, and theology. For good or ill, ours is an age in which occupations ranging from aroma therapy to zymometry claim to be “professions” and their proponents, “professionals.” It can be argued that whether an occupation rises to the status of a profession is less a function of claims of importance than of underlying principles and the values of practitioners. It also can be argued that professionalism (referring to “the manner, spirit and methods of a profession”) is more about doing, than about being.

Education and training in communication sciences and disorders necessarily emphasize scientific and technical knowledge, as well as clinical skill. Proper preparation also requires attention to the behaviors that distinguish professionals from amateurs and from dilettantes. These behaviors may not be taught, but they certainly can be learned. Perhaps too often we assume that formal statements of ethics and the actions of more experienced models are sufficient indicators of professional behaviors. As a result, students may be unclear about what is expected of them and when they will be accountable for those expectations. One solution is to state–in direct, behavioral terms–what is expected.

The following attempts to do so as simply as possible. It is not intended as rant and cant, but rather as a set of behavioral aspirations. Some of us may have fallen short of some of these aspirations at some time or other. That is less important than our efforts to do the right thing the next time.

Professional Behavior

Audiology and speech-language pathology are professional disciplines. Professions require certain behaviors of their practitioners. Professional behaviors (which may or may not directly involve other people) have to do with professional tasks and responsibilities, with the individuals served by the profession, and with relations with other professionals. Included among professional tasks are education and training. The following conveys expectations about the behaviors of those who seek to join these professions.

1. You show up on time.
2. You show up prepared.
3. You show up properly attired.
4. You show up in a frame of mind appropriate to the professional task.
5. You accept the idea that “on time,” “prepared,” “appropriate,” and “properly” are defined by the situation, by the nature of the task, or by another person.
6. You accept that your first duty is to the ultimate welfare of the persons served by your profession, and that “ultimate welfare” is a complex mix of desires, wants, needs, abilities, and capacities.
7. You recognize that professional duties and situations are about completing tasks and about solving problems in ways that benefit others, either immediately or in the long term. They are not about you. When you are called upon to behave as a professional, you are not the patient, the customer, the star, or the victim.
8. You place the importance of professional duties, tasks and problem-solving above your own convenience. 
9. You strive to work effectively with others for the benefit of the persons served. This means you pursue professional duties, tasks, and problem-solving in ways that make it easier (not harder) for others to accomplish their work. 
10. You properly credit others for their work. 
11. You sign your work. 
12. You take responsibility for your actions, your reactions, and your inaction. This means you do not avoid responsibility by offering excuses, by blaming others, by emotional displays, or by helplessness. 
13. You do not accept professional duties or tasks for which you are personally or professionally unprepared. 
14. You do what you say you will do. By the time you said you would do it. To the extent you said you would do it. And to the degree of quality you said you would do it. 
15. You take active responsibility for expanding the limits of your knowledge, understanding, and skill. 
16. You vigorously seek and tell the truth, including those truths that may be less than flattering to you. 
17. You accept direction (including correction) from those who are more knowledgeable or more experienced. You provide direction (including correction) to those who are less knowledgeable or less experienced. 
18. You value the resources required to perform professional duties, tasks, and problem-solving, including your time and that of others. 
19. You accord respect to the values, interests, and opinions of others that may differ from your own, as long as they are not objectively harmful to the persons served. 
20. You accept the fact that others may establish objectives for you. While you may not always agree with those goals, or may not fully understand them, you will pursue them as long as they are not objectively harmful to the persons served. 
21. When you attempt a task for the second time, you seek to do it better than you did it the first time. You revise the ways you approach professional duties, tasks, and problem-solving in consideration of peer judgments of best practice. 
22. You accept the imperfections of the world in ways that do not compromise the interests of those you serve, or your own pursuit of excellence. 
23. You base your opinions, actions and relations with others upon sound empirical evidence, and upon examined personal values consistent with the above. 
24. You expect all of the above from other professionals.

Expectations of Students

Students in practica are expected to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the ASHA Code of Ethics at all times. The ASHA Code of Ethics identifies four areas where professional behavior is required:

1. Holding paramount the welfare of the members of the public being served; 
2. Maintaining professional competence in the delivery of services; 
3. Promoting understanding of the disciplines of speech-language pathology and audiology; and 
4. Honoring professional responsibilities and demonstrating respect for colleagues.

In addition, the following are forbidden:

• Using a client’s name in any public conversation or forum. 
• Discussing a client‘s case with ANYONE except the responsible clinical supervisor. 
• Removing a client‘s folder to any non-secure area. Clients’ folders are to be used in designated areas and may NEVER be taken from Goodnight Hall under any circumstances. (In the case of a subpoena, a copy will be provided to the appropriate court official.) Clients, however, may obtain a copy of anything that is in their files. 
• Adding or removing information from the client’s file. 
• Using the client‘s name on printed draft copies or disk files of reports (you may use initials or any other coding system). The client‘s name should appear ONLY on the final copy of the report; any electronic file should have the name erased as soon as the final copy is printed. 
• Saving a client’s report on the hard disk of any computer available for others to use. 
• Seeing a client at an outside site without the knowledge of the responsible clinical supervisor. 
• Terminating a client’s therapy without discussion with an agreement from the responsible clinical supervisor. 
• Removing testing materials from Goodnight Hall for use at another practicum site without express permission to do so.

Client Rights

• Clients shall have the right to considerate and respectful care. 
• Clients can reasonably expect to obtain from their clinician or clinical professor complete and current information concerning their diagnosis, treatment and prognoses in terms and language the client can reasonably be expected to understand. In such cases where it is not possible to give such information to the client (e.g., age, language disability), the information may be made available to the appropriate person in their behalf. 
• Clients shall have the right to know by name, level of training, specialty (if any) the clinician responsible for coordination of their rehabilitation program. 
• Clients shall have the right to every consideration of their privacy and individuality as it relates to their social, religious, and psychological well-being. 
• Clients shall have the right to respectfulness and privacy as it relates to their communication rehabilitation program. Case discussion, consultation, examination, and treatment are confidential and should be conducted discreetly. 
• Clients shall have the right to expect the University of Wisconsin Speech and Hearing Clinic (UWSHC) and related facilities to make a reasonable response to the requests of the client regarding reports, observers, etc.

Equipment and Resources

Audiorecording Equipment

You must supply your own digital audiorecording unit. Your audiorecorder must meet the following requirements:

• Have a built-in microphone with unidirectional capability;
• Provide a reading of battery status; 
• Have a line-in connector for an external microphone (you may eventually want to purchase a compatible external microphone—table or lapel model—for recording speech sound production). 
• Have a line-out connector for headphones; 
• Can record in SP (standard play) and S (stereo) modes for the best-quality recording; 
• Include software for transferring a recorded file to your personal computer for transcription and for transferring the file from your computer to a CD in Windows Media Player file format; 
• Allow slower-than-normal playback without distortion for transcribing; 
• Optionally, have a compatible speaker(s) so that you don’t only have to listen through earphones).

Be aware that not all digital recording units are Windows and Mac compatible. At UW, we use Windows.

Videorecording Equipment

Most UWSHC rooms have wall-mounted cameras for digital recording through a department network. Using a system called Intelligent Stream Recorder, (ISR) clinical faculty can record/view clinic sessions from the desktop computers in their offices.

You can self-evaluate clinical performance by viewing the sessions from desktop computers on the fourth floor. Check with your clinical professor about using ISR to record and view your treatment sessions.

There also is a portable camcorder in Room 330 to use for videorecording in clinic rooms without a wall-mounted camera or outside the clinic. Always sign out the equipment and return it immediately after use. Be sure you know how to operate the equipment before you use it.

Other Equipment

Portable technology such as laptop computers are also available for clinical use, and are housed in the office of the IT specialist.

You may use electronic equipment only for appropriate clinical purposes. Please seek and receive training on the equipment before operating it.

Report all equipment problems to the IT specialist. Please include all of the follwing in your report:

• Make and model of the malfunctioning equpment.
• Your personal information such as name and login information.
• A detailed description of the actions leading to the problem, the problem itself and all error messages received (if applicable).

Therapy Room Etiquette

To keep UWSHC therapy rooms in order, please do the following after each session is completed:

• Return all materials and equipment to their assigned storage spaces. 
• Return any furniture brought in from another therapy/observation room. Each piece of furniture is numbered with the room in which it belongs. 
• Close the windows and turn off the lights.

During peak clinic times, therapy rooms may be used on the hour or half-hour. Please check the master schedule in the receptionist’s office to identify when the room you are using will be used next, so you can vacate it in time.

Infection Control

Always follow the procedures for infection control required at the sites at which you are providing clinical services. Infection control procedures for the UWSHC are posted on the back of the door of each therapy room.

Client Cancellation of an Appointment

When a client cancels an appointment, the clinic receptionist will post a cancellation notice on the message board in her office. Clients will be identified by their initials and the starting time of their session. Please notify your clinical supervisor when your client has cancelled a session.

Observation of Therapy Sessions

No one may observe therapy without the consent of the client and the approval of the clinical professor. You are obliged to question the presence of observers if you do no know who/why they are there.

Make sure each client’s file has a written consent for observers. If this form is not in the file, consult with your clinical supervisor. If the client withdraws permission to observe during a session, observers must leave the room immediately.

Observers must:

• Respect the privacy and confidentiality of the client: what is seen or heard must remain in the clinic. 
• Not ask questions, make comments, or criticize the student clinician while observing, because some of the observers may be relatives of the client. Observers may ask questions of the student clinician or the clinical professor only when relatives of the client are not present. 
• Enter and exit the observation room quietly. If it is necessary to speak while in the room, they must do so softly, as the wall are thin and voices carry easily to the adjoining therapy room. They must also keep the observation door shut. 
• Learn how to turn on and adjust the loudness on the speaker system, and shut off the system when they leave the observation room.

Client Files

Client clinic files are kept locked in room 155. Your clinical professor will provide you with the code for entry to this room. Current client files are in a file cabinet marked “Active Speech-Language Clients.” Use the checkout system posted on the file cabinet and remember that client files are confidential and can never be taken from Goodnight Hall.

Client Progress and Planning Notes

You must complete progress and/or planning notes to fulfill ASHA requirements. Your clinical professor will inform you of the format and content required for each client.

You are urged to complete notes immediately after the session, while your memory is freshest. Never complete the notes later than the following day.

Place completed notes in the client’s clinic file. Your clinical supervisor will review and sign the notes on a weekly basis.

Recording ASHA Clock-Hours

Throughout the semester, keep a running account of the amount of time spent with each client. Organize this information by age level (child or adult), evaluation or management, and disorder area. Check with your clinical supervisor if you have questions about how to do this.

Only direct contact with the client or the client’s family in assessment, management, and/or counseling, may be counted as ASHA clock-hours. For example, if you spend 50 minutes providing therapy with a client, you would count only 50 minutes, not an hour.

To learn more about how ASHA counts clinical experience, read the 2005 Standards and Implementation Procedures for the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology.

At the end of each semester, complete the following steps regarding your earned clock-hours.

1. Total the time spent with clients in each disorder area, age group, and evaluation or management (e.g., articulation, child, management). 
2. Enter the totals—as a combination of hours and minutes—into the appropriate categories on the ASHA Clinical Clock-Hour Summary form. Use black ink for all entries. 
3. Ask your clinical professor/supervisor(s) to verify the clock-hours and sign the completed form. 
4. Keep a copy of the signed form as a backup to the entries in the department’s clock-hour database. 
5. Submit the signed summary form(s) to the department‘s financial specialist, who will enter the data into the Student Assessment Management System (SAMS) and file the original form in your permanent departmental file.

Evaluation of Clinical Supervision

Before your final conference with your clinical professor(s), complete an evaluation of the supervision you received in each practica. Use the Supervision Evaluation Form.

Evaluations are anonymous and are not provided to the clinical professor until after grades have been assigned.

End-of-Semester Activities

• Follow the instructions regarding end-of-semester progress reports provided by your clinical professor. 
• Schedule an appointment with your clinical professor for an end-of-semester conference to review your clinical performance and learning during the semester. Your clinical professor may provide you with guidelines for self-reflection before this appointment. 
• Complete a Supervision Evaluation Form and place it in the Supervisor Evaluations box in Room 320. 
• Complete and submit the ASHA Clinical Clock-Hour Summary form.
• Meet with your clinical professor.

Legal Requirements

Requirement For Supervised Professional Experience

You must engage in a supervised professional experience each semester. If you are completing requirements for the ASHA CCC, you may count the supervised clinical practicum activities as your supervised professional experience.

Criminal Background Checks

Admission to our master’s degree program requires documentation that you do not have a criminal record. You must provide a criminal background check for caregivers done by the Department of Justice in each state in which you have lived (for two or more consecutive weeks) during the past three years.

Failure to provide the official background check report(s) one month before the beginning of the master’s program, or as additional checks are required, may prevent you from entering or continuing in the program.

TB Test Requirement

Proof of a negative TB test is required before may participate in any clinical practicum. Failure to submit proof of a negative TB test by the deadlines will delay your participation in first-year clinical and/or med site practicum, and may jeopardize your ability to complete your degree on schedule.

Negative TB test* results must be submitted at the following times:

1. Get a TB test done within the month before you begin the graduate program. If you are beginning the program in the fall, you must get the test between July 1st-28th, and submit a negative TB test result to the Graduate Student Coordinator no later than July 31st. Keep a copy of your test result. You will be required to give that copy to the School of Education Academic Services office by November 15th during the first year of the master’s program.
2. Get a new TB test one month before the start of the semester in which you are doing your medical site placement. Submit your test results to the Graduate Student Coordinator no later than two weeks before your medical site semester begins.

*A negative TB skin test will satisfy requirements unless you have ever had a positive TB skin test. In this case, you must also provide a chest x-ray showing negative TB test results by the above stated deadlines.

Calendar of Clinical Experiences

 

YEAR 1
Summer (Optional)*	1st Semester	2nd Semester	Summer
CD 790 UWSHC, Phonology Clinic, or other site supervised by UW clinical faculty	CD 790 UWSHC, Phonology Clinic or other site supervised by UW clinical faculty Head Start screening: hearing and speech/ language	CD 790 UWSHC, Phonology Clinic or other site supervised by UW clinical faculty Head Start screening: hearing and speech/ language	CD 790 UWSHC, Phonology Clinic or other site supervised by UW clinical faculty With 100 clock-hours and approval from clinical faculty, student is eligible for, but not guaranteed, a medical site placement.
YEAR 2
1st Semester		2nd Semester
CD 790 – medical site** CI 692 – school site*** CD 790 – Advanced UWSHC practicum***		CD 790 – medical site** CI 692 – school site*** CD 790 – Advanced UWSHC practicum***

 *Optional, but students entering the program with no ASHA clock-hours should consider the advantage of having some clinical experience prior to beginning graduate study.

**Second-year clinical experiences typically include both a medical and a school placement; only one of these is taken per semester.

***The Advanced UWSHC practicum provides an opportunity for:

1. mentored independent clinical practice in a disorder area in which students have had prior clinical experience; 
2. training with a particular disorder area or age group to increase the diversity of clinical experiences; and/or 
3. advanced clinical training in a disorder area of special interest.

The number of available Advanced UWSHC clinical experiences is limited. To obtain an advanced assignment, the student will need to be invited by the clinical professor who supervises the practicum of interest following an interview. The Advanced UWSHC clinical experience is typically taken during the same semester in which the student has a medical site placement.

Typical Experience

Year 1, first semester:

• Register for 2 credits of CD 790 with a single UW clinical faculty member. 
• Be assigned two or three clients. 
• Earn a minimum of 50 ASHA clock-hours. 
• Have the following experiences: 
  • Providing direct service to clients; 
  • Conferencing/consulting with caregivers and other members of the client‘s/patient‘s treatment team; 
  • Writing lesson plans and progress notes; 
  • Preparing materials; 
  • Conferencing with the clinical supervisor regarding clinical performance following client/patient encounters; 
  • Meeting at least once per week with the clinical supervisor regarding each client‘s/patient‘s clinical issues, learning needs, treatment program, and progress; self-evaluating their performance/skills; and 
  • Reporting on client/patient performance/progress in both verbal and written form. 
• Each practicum also includes experiences that are unique to that particular practicum.

Year 1, second semester:

• Register for 2 credits of CD 790 with a single UW clinical faculty member, or for 1 credit with each of two different UW clinical faculty members, for a total of 2 credits of CD 790. 
• Be assigned two or three clients with a single UW clinical faculty member, or two clients with each of two different UW clinical faculty members. 
• Earn a minimum of 50 ASHA clock-hours. 
• Have at least a similar range of experiences as described for the fall semester.

Summer after Year 1:

• Register for 3 credits of CD 790 (which may be with a single UW clinical faculty), or register for one to two credits with two or more UW clinical faculty members for a total of 3 credits of CD 790. 
• Be assigned two to three clients with each clinical faculty member. 
• Have at least a similar range of experiences as described for the fall. 
• If you have at least 100 clock hours and approval from clinical faculty, you are eligible for summer placement in a medical site. Availability is limited, however, and placement is not guaranteed. If you are placed in a medical site, you need to register for the number of CD 790 credits designated for that particular site, as explained in the next section.

Year 2:

• When you are assigned to a medical site, register for 3 CD 790 credits with Stacy Cohen.
• When assigned to a public school site, register for 3 credits of CI 692.

You must be registered for CD 790 or CI 692 to receive ASHA clock-hours for clinical work under each clinical supervisor. Failure to register for the appropriate number of credits with a clinical supervisor will result in forfeiture of the earned clock hours.

Practicum Assignments

Length and Number of Assignments

Clinical practicum assignments are usually made for one semester at a time; however, in special circumstances, they may be shorter or longer.

You may be assigned to more than one site or to more than one type of practicum within a site. You will never be assigned to more than two different physical sites and/or no more than two types of practica within a site during the same semester.

Number of Clinical Supervisors

You may be assigned to more than one clinical supervisor in a given semester. Normally, however, you will not be assigned to more than two different clinical supervisors during the same semester.

Outside Employment

We recognize that you may need to work in addition to taking academic courses and clinical practica. We will make every reasonable attempt to accommodate work schedules when scheduling clients; however, this may not always be possible.

In such cases, you are expected to change your work schedule to accommodate a clinical assignment. If you choose not to do so, that represents declining a clinical practicum assignment and has the consequences described below.

You are advised to delay committing to a set work schedule for each semester until after you have their clinical assignments.

Decline or Withdrawal From an Assignment

If you decline a specific practicum assignment, you may forfeit all practicum assignments for the semester. This will extend the timeline for gaining clinical skills and ASHA clock hours.

You may not withdraw from clinical assignments during a semester unless there are significant, substantiated health problems or other serious factors.

Withdrawal of services provided to clients is a very serious matter. The ASHA Code of Ethics outlines the obligations of professionals providing services to the public.

If you are contemplating withdrawing from clinical assignments, discuss the situation with the clinic coordinator as early as possible. You will also need to notify the clinical supervisor and work with him or her to plan for the transition.

Assignment Process

You will receive notice of your clinical assignment(s) in mid-semester. This allows time to determine placements and schedules for the following semester or summer session.

Below is the assignment process for the UW Speech and Hearing Clinic (UWSHC) and for cooperating practicum sites in which our clinical professors are supervisors or liaisons:

1. Check your ASHA clock-hour records to determine what needs you have for clinical experiences and the prerequisites for second-year practicum placements. 
2. Complete all prerequisite courses and/or clinical experiences specified for second-year practicum placements. 
3. The Clinic Director and Clinic Coordinators will make practicum assignments based on these criteria. They will always try to honor students’ requests for a particular clinical experience, but it is not feasible to honor all requests in every semester. 
4. If you have not had a specific type of clinical experience, you will be given preference for a practicum over students who have already had the same or a similar clinical experience. 
5. Indicate your acceptance of a clinical practicum assignment in writing and/or as directed by the instructions provided by the relevant clinical coordinator. 
6. Register in CD 790 or CI 692 for the number of credits required for each practicum assignment.

Off-Campus Placements

• The department is responsible for assuring that all clinical practica and supervisors meet ASHA accreditation requirements. Therefore, all clinical practicum placements at off-campus sites must be made only by department personnel. Without a formal agreement between the department and an off-campus site, any clinical hours you acquire at that site will not count toward ASHA requirements.
• You must be registered for clinical practicum credit(s) in order to be covered by UW-Madison liability insurance. For your protection, if you choose to volunteer time without registering for credit, you should arrange for private malpractice insurance.

Medical Site Placements

• If there are legitimate reasons why you must be in a specific location while completing a clinical practicum, the medical site coordinator will work with you to facilitate this. Do not make even an initial contact with someone at a desired location without discussing the situation with the medical site coordinator.
• To be placed at a medical site, you must be interviewed by staff at that specific agency. Agencies, however, frequently limit the number of students they will interview in a given semester. The choice of student trainee is determined by the agency, and its decision is final.
• Students applying for clinical experiences at medical sites must have an annual TB test. Requirements for additional tests and inoculations vary by medical site, but most also require two inoculations against MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), three inoculations against Hepatitis B, and either history of or immunization against chicken pox.

School Site Placements

• You must consult with the public school coordinator to determine the semester in which your school placement will occur. Generally, it is not possible to change to another semester after you have completed the student teaching application.
• Submit the electronic student teaching application by November 15th: one year prior to the planned student teaching semester. Contact the School of Education’s Academic Services Office if you have questions on this form.
• Submit a negative result TB skin test to Education Academic Services by November 15th: one year prior to the planned student teaching semester.
• You must have completed at least two semesters of CD 790 (Practicum in Communicative Disorders) and CD 713 prior to student teaching.
• Student teaching assignments are announced at a student teaching orientation meeting. The meeting is held in mid-November (for those who plan to student teach in the spring semester) and in mid-April (for those who plan to student teach in the fall semester). Attendance at this meeting is mandatory.
• After the student teaching orientation meeting, schedule an interview with the school-based speech-language pathologist who will supervise your clinical experiences.
• If both you and the school-based speech-language pathologist believe the match is positive, the placement will be finalized in early December (for those who plan to student teach in a spring semester) or in early May (for those who plan to student teach in a fall semester).

For more information, visit School Services in Communicative Disorders.

List of Practicum Sites

Availability of practicum sites varies from year to year. This list contains both active and inactive sites; new sites are also added periodically.

University of Wisconsin Speech and Hearing Clinic (UWSHC)

LOCATION: Department of Communicative Disorders, Goodnight Hall, 1975 Willow Drive.

CAR REQUIRED: No, unless specified below.

The UWSHC provides opportunities for observation, assessment, and (re)habilitative work with clients across the age span, which has a wide range of communicative disorders and levels of severity. Descriptions of available clinical experiences are provided below. Assignments to any of the described clinics can be made only after the student has completed twenty-five (25) supervised observation hours.

• Evaluation and Treatment Practicum: Aural Habilitation

  DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience in the design and execution of assessment protocols and/or treatment plans for clients who range in age from birth to early childhood, who have a congenital or acquired hearing loss. In most cases, our emphasis will be fostering interactions that promote turn taking and language development within the parent-child dyad. Many families seek auditory training for children with hearing aids or cochlear implants. We take an eclectic data based approach to the modality choice of parents, as they learn what is most effective for their child: auditory-oral, or Simultaneous Communication, or Sign language as we analyze vocabulary development and language samples. Usually, students are involved in parent coaching and/or counseling as the team determines functional communication goals for their everyday routines to foster understanding and expression of language.

  RECOMMENDED OR REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in auditory (re)habilitation is required; a sign language course is desirable.

  USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENT: Supervisor will schedule. Clients are scheduled for one or two 60-90 minute sessions per week in part dependent on the travel distance involved for the families and/or the attention of the children.

  SUPERVISOR: Michelle Quinn, M.A., CCC-SLP

• Group Treatment Practicum: Preschool Conversational Turn Taking

  DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience in the design and execution of a group treatment setting for preschoolers. Children aged 2–54 years old who are mildly-moderately language delayed will generalize and extend their language skills to become more effective conversational partners—thinking with language.

  RECOMMENDED OR REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in early childhood curricula and/or preschool language development is desirable.

  USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENT: Supervisor will schedule. Clients are scheduled two –three 90-150 minute sessions per week dependent on if the offering is during the academic year or the summer and depending on the attention span of the children enrolled. In summer, availability for both the morning and afternoon session is required.

  SUPERVISOR: Michelle Quinn, M.A., CCC-SLP

• Evaluation Practicum: Aural (Re)habilitation (Children and Adults)

  DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience in the design and execution of assessment protocols for clients across the lifespan who are pre or recently post amplification—be that hearing aids or cochlear implants. Often, this practicum involves work site and/or communication partner involvement as we help clients experience greater listening success and conversational fluency in their functional environments. The practicum also provides students with experience interpreting assessment results, providing counseling, writing assessment reports, making recommendations and referrals, providing in-service workshops and working as a team with families and other professionals.

  RECOMMENDED OR REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in auditory (re)habilitation is required; a sign language course is desirable and in some cases, required.

  SUPERVISOR: Michelle Quinn, M.A., CCC-SLP

• Evaluation and Management Practicum: Articulation/Phonology Clinics

  DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience in the assessment and management of child speech disorders of known and unknown origin.

  RECOMMENDED OR REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in phonology/articulation is required.

  USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENT: 3-hour time block, twice per week, in the Phonology Clinic at the Waisman Center.

  SUPERVISOR: Joan Kwiatkowski, M.A., CCC-SLP

• Evaluation and Management Practicum: Fluency Disorders

  DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience in the assessment and management of fluency disorders across the lifespan. An integrated approach is used to facilitate fluency and modify fluency breakdowns.

  RECOMMENDED OR REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in stuttering is required; 100 hours of prior clinical experience is desirable.

  USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENT: Supervisor will schedule. Clients are scheduled for two 1-hour time blocks or one 1.5 hour time per week.

  SUPERVISOR: Joan Kwiatkowski, M.A., CCC-SLP

• Evaluation and Management Practicum: Neurogenic Communication Disorders

  DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience in the assessment and management of developmental and acquired neurogenic communication disorders across the lifespan. Individualized treatments address motor speech disorders (e.g., dysarthria, apraxia), language disorders (e.g., aphasia), and cognitive-communication disorders (attention, memory, executive function).

  RECOMMENDED OR REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in motor speech disorders, aphasia, and cognitive-communication disorders is desirable.

  USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENT: Supervisor will schedule. Clients are scheduled for 1 to 2-hour time blocks per week.

  SUPERVISOR: Dana Longstreth, M.S., CCC-SLP; Trici Schraeder, M.S., CCC-SLP; Jamie Murray-Branch, M.A., CCC-SLP

• Evaluation and Management Practicum: Populations with Severe Expressive Communication Impairments

  CAR REQUIRED: To support the community-based aspect of the service delivery program, students taking the practicum typically will need some access to a car. Community sites are usually no more than a 10-minute drive from campus.

  DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides students with diagnostic therapy and management experiences with individuals across the lifespan who need augmentative and alternative communication system support (i.e., communication books and boards, computerized systems with speech output, alternate computer interface methods for writing). Populations served have a wide variety of disabling conditions including autism, developmental apraxia, traumatic brain injury and severe cognitive disabilities. Services are provided in a variety of settings including the UWSHC, public schools, community recreational facilities, job sites and private residences. Management programs frequently include: 1) design and construction of communication aids, 2) systematic instruction on the effective use of an augmentative system to enhance the client‘s language (receptive and expressive) and social interactions, 3) in-service training to key team members, 4) informal and formal analyses of social environments followed by consultative services, and 5) multi-disciplinary intervention and consultation to provide comprehensive support of the client. Many clients are referred for services from the two clinical programs at the TRACE Center: Communication Development Program and the Communication Aids and Systems Clinic; on-going collaboration with TRACE Center clinical staff ensures well-organized intervention programs.

  RECOMMENDED OR REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in augmentative and alternative communication systems is desirable.

  USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENT: Supervisor will schedule. Clients are scheduled within the following time frames: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

  SUPERVISOR: Jamie Murray-Branch, M.A., CCC-SLP

• Evaluation and Management Practicum: Voice Disorders

  DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience in the design and execution of assessment protocols and management programs with individuals, who have a broad range of voice disorders. Students also gain experience with the integration of instrumentation into the assessment and treatment processes.

  RECOMMENDED OR REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in the assessment and management of voice disorders is desirable.

  USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENT: Supervisor will schedule. Clients are scheduled for 1 to 2-hour time blocks per week.

  SUPERVISOR: Dana Longstreth, M.S., CCC-SLP

• General Evaluation Practicum: Speech and Language Assessment

  DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience in the design and execution of assessment protocols for clients across the lifespan, who display a variety of communicative disorders. The practicum also provides students with experience interpreting assessment results, providing counseling, writing assessment reports, making recommendations and referrals, and working as a team with other professionals. In some cases, students also engage in diagnostic therapy. Assessment protocols are individually designed to address specific questions and may include the use of standardized tests, informal assessment procedures, and computer-assisted assessment and analysis tools.

  RECOMMENDED OR REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in the assessment of speech and language disorders; 100 hours of prior clinical experience or consent of instructor, is required.

  USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENT: Supervisor will schedule. Clients are scheduled for 2 to 3-hour time blocks per week

  SUPERVISORS: Trici Schraeder, M.S., CCC-SLP (Summer Session ONLY)

• Speech, Language and Hearing Screening: Dane County Head Start

  DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience screening speech, language, and hearing, in preschool children who are enrolled in Dane County Head Start. Typically, as many as 1,200 children are seen in the fall and 75 to 100 children are seen in the spring. All children are given a hearing screening; only those children who did not pass an initial screening at the time of their enrollment in Head Start are given a speech and language screening. This activity is also a service project for the community.

  RECOMMENDED OR REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; participation of all graduate students is required.

  COORDINATORS: Trici Schraeder, M.S., CCC-SLP and Melanie Buhr-Lawler, AuD., CCC-A

Medical Sites In and Outside the Madison Area

CAR REQUIRED: No, unless specified below.

Medical sites include a variety of clinics that provide opportunities for assessment and treatment of a range of communicative disorders across the lifespan, as well as the treatment of swallowing deficits. A description of the clinics that are part of the University of Wisconsin Clinical Sciences Center is provided below.

COORDINATOR: Stacy Cohen, M.A., CCC-SLP

Speech-Language Pathology Department

LOCATION: University Hospital, 600 Highland Avenue

DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience in diagnosing and managing speech language, and cognitive in the inpatient setting. Responsibilities include direct patient care, interaction with a multi-disciplinary team, daily record keeping, and medical charting.

REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work identified by the practicum supervisor as necessary for the specific practicum; at least 100 hours of prior clinical experience; selection by the practicum supervisor following an interview.

USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENTS: Supervisor will schedule.

Cerebral Palsy Clinic

LOCATION: Waisman Center on Mental Retardation and Human Development, 1500 Highland Avenue

DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience with the assessment and treatment of individuals with cerebral palsy, who have multiple handicapping conditions (i.e., combinations of neurologic damage, brain damage, and in some cases, impaired intellectual function). Assessment procedures include formal and informal instruments and behavioral observations. Students gain experience in selecting and modifying test procedures to assess speech production (or the potential for speech production) and language comprehension, and to identify whether an alternative form of communication is indicated.

REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in dysarthria, dysphasia, and augmentative and alternative communication systems; at least 100 hours of prior clinical experience; selection by the practicum supervisor following an interview.

USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENTS: Supervisor will schedule.

Cleft Lip & Palate/Craniofacial Anomalies Clinic (CFAC)

LOCATION: AFCH - American Family Children‘s hospital, Pediatric Otolaryngology Clinic

CAR REQUIRED: No.

DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience in assessment and management for children who have all types of craniofacial anomalies. Assessment includes evaluation of velopharyngeal closure, voice, articulation, and language. The evaluation of velopharyngeal function utilizes physiologic measures and instrumentation (i.e., aerodynamic assessment of velopharyngeal closure, biofeedback of aerodynamic parameters to determine the potential for adequate closure, nasoendoscopic assessment of velopharyngeal function and perceptual studies). Students participate as a member of a multi-disciplinary team, involving specialists from the fields of dentistry, orthodontics, social work, plastic surgery, genetics, otolaryngology, and audiology. Students staff patients and determine management objectives.

REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in assessment of speech and language disorders; at least 100 hours of prior clinical experience; selection by the practicum supervisor following an interview. This practicum requires a 2 semester commitment.

USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENTS: Supervisor will schedule; required time frames may include Thursday afternoon for reviewing medical charts, Friday from 7:30 am to 1:00 pm for clinic activities, and an additional TBA weekly meeting. 

Pediatrics

LOCATION: UW Outpatient clinic, University Ave. Middleton, WI

DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience in diagnosing and managing speech and language problems in children, ranging in age from a few months to early teens, who are seen as both inpatients and outpatients. Etiologies include head injury, anoxic encephalopathy, cerebral palsy, cerebral vascular accident, tumors, failure to thrive, pulmonary involvement, immune deficiency, dysphagia and developmental delays. Inpatient care may extend from a few days to a few months. Teaming with occupational and physical therapy is often included to facilitate the child's gross, fine and oral-motor skill development.

REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in the assessment and treatment of language disorders, dysarthria, and dysphasia; at least 100 hours of prior clinical experience; selection by the practicum supervisor following an interview.

USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENTS: Supervisor will schedule. 

Acute Rehabilitation

LOCATION: University Hospital, 600 Highland Avenue
DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience primarily with young adults who have sustained a head injury; some experience may also be gained with communicative disorders due to cerebral vascular accident and degenerative neurologic diseases.

REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in dysarthria, and dysphasia; at least 100 hours of prior clinical experience; selection by the practicum supervisor following an interview.

USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENTS: Supervisor will schedule.

Swallowing Clinic

LOCATION: University Hospital, 600 Highland Avenue

DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience assessing and managing swallowing disorders in children and adults who have a variety of medical diagnoses and/or developmental delays. Students have opportunity to learn videofluoroscopic analysis of swallowing functions.

REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in the assessment of speech and language disorders, dysarthria, dysphasia; at least 100 hours of prior clinical experience; selection by the practicum supervisor following an interview. In addition, concurrent or previous course work in dysphagia is recommended.

USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENT: Supervisor will schedule.

Voice Clinic

LOCATION: University Hospital and Clinics, Department of Surgery, Otolaryngology (ENT).

DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides opportunity to gain skills in identifying and assessing a wide variety of voice disorders, using information generated through acoustic, aerodynamic and stroboscopic examinations. There is also opportunity for extensive interaction with medical personnel.

REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in the assessment and management of voice disorders; at least 100 hours of prior clinical experience; selection by the practicum supervisor following an interview.

USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENT: Supervisor will schedule; required time frames include Tuesday pm and Wednesday am for clinic activities, and TBA meetings for stroboscopy training.

Additional Medical Sites

• Central Wisconsin Center, Madison 
• Communication Development Center 
• Meriter Hospital, Madison

Madison and Madison-Area Public Schools

LOCATION: Approximately 35 sites are available in Madison, and approximately 30 sites are available within a 50-mile radius of Madison; not all sites are available every semester.

CAR REQUIRED: No for sites in Madison; yes for sites within a 50-mile radius.

DESCRIPTION: This practicum provides experience with assessment and management of a variety of communicative disorders in a public school setting. Sites include early childhood, elementary, middle, and high schools. Opportunities include diagnostics; multi-disciplinary team work; Individualized Education Program planning; direct intervention in 1:1, small group or large group settings; experience with inclusive practices; collaboration with parents, regular and special education teachers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, school psychologists, social workers, other staff and educators, administrators, and community resource personnel. Students create an electronic portfolio throughout their graduate program. The portfolio is evaluated during the student teaching practica. Completion of the portfolio is required for a school license in Wisconsin and many other states.

REQUIRED FOR PLACEMENT: Graduate standing; course work in school-related issues and practices; at least 100 hours of prior clinical experience; acceptance by the practicum supervisor following an interview.

USUAL SCHEDULING REQUIREMENTS: 20 hours per week, Monday through Friday, with specific time frames determined by the public school supervisor.

SUPERVISOR: On-site public school speech-language pathologist

COORDINATOR: Trici Schraeder, M.S., CCC-SLP

Head Start Screening Program

Each year the UW Speech and Hearing Clinic screens the speech, language and hearing of approximately 1,200 children who have enrolled into the Dane County Head Start program. The screenings are described in detail in the Head Start Screening orientation handbook.

Grading, Review, and Probation

Grading Clinical Performance

Determination of Practicum Grades

Students should obtain information from each of their supervisors regarding the criteria that will be used to determine grades. Students receive a grade from each of their clinical supervisors within a semester that applies to the number of credits for which they are registered.

Formative and Summative Evaluations of Clinical Performance in a Practicum

Each clinical supervisor completes an evaluation for each graduate student assigned to his/her practicum. An evaluation may be completed at any point during the semester, is often completed at mid-term, and must be completed at the end of the semester.

A variety of evaluation procedures may be used. Example of procedures used by clinical professors and clinical supervisors at medical and school sites are the Clinical Skills Appraisal Form and the SAMS: Medical-Site and School-Site KASA Skill Evaluation.

At the end of each semester, the student‘s clinical skill development for each clinical practicum is summarized in a computer software program to document Knowledge and Skills Acquisition (KASA), as required by ASHA. Summary statements are supported by detailed comments that are also provided by the clinical supervisor/professor.

Criteria for Minimum Clinical Performance

Clinical performance is indexed by the grades earned in practicum courses in the department. Minimum clinical performance means that the student has:

• No more than two instances of grades in individual graduate-level practicum courses of less than 3.0 (i.e., less than B).
• An overall (cumulative) grade point average (GPA) across all graduate-level practicum courses of no less than 3.0 (i.e., a cumulative average of no less than B).
• No grade for any individual graduate-level practicum course of less than 2.0 (i.e., no grade lower than C).

Clinical Review and Clinical Alert

The purpose of the procedures for clinical review and clinical alert is to resolve concerns regarding a student’s clinical performance prior to the end of a semester. Through an individualized improvement plan, the student is assisted in bringing his/her clinical performance to an acceptable level.

Clinical Review

When a student’s clinical performance at mid-semester is less than expected, the Clinical Area Group (CAG) performs a review when they meet in November (for the fall term) and in March (for the spring term).

The CAG documents concerns about the student’s clinical performance in the Clinical Performance Review, and if determined to be appropriate develops a Clinical Performance Improvement Plan that includes Areas Identified for Improvement and Objectives/Plan of Action for Improvement.

A member of the Student Clinical Review Committee (SCRC) reports the results of the review and plan of action at the November and March speech-language area group meetings.

The SCRC member(s) then share the results of the review and proposed plan of action with the student. This plan may be modified following discussion with the student. The SCRC participant(s) and the student then sign the final plan and immediately implement it.

Clinical Alert

If a student’s Objectives/Plan of Action for Improvement includes placing the student on Clinical Alert, because the student’s clinical performance at midterm warranted less than the grade B, the following apply:

• If the student’s clinical performance issues are resolved by the end of the semester, the student cannot obtain a grade higher than B, regardless of the quality of clinical performance. If, however, the student was not placed on clinical alert, and the clinical performance issues were resolved, the student's quality of clinical performance at the end of the semester will determine the grade.
• If the student‘s clinical performance issues are not resolved by the end of the semester, the student will be assigned the grade BC or below, depending on the quality of clinical performance, and will be placed on clinical probation for the following semester.

Clinical Probation

A student whose clinical performance in one semester received a grade lower than B will be placed on departmental clinical probation prior to beginning clinical practicum in the following semester. Typically, students who are on probation will have been on clinical alert during the previous semester.

Because the summer semester is too short a period for making the significant changes that will be required of a student on probation, a student who is given probationary status after the spring semester a) will not register for CD 790 during the summer and b) will be on clinical probation during the fall semester.

The following procedures must be followed:

• The student's clinical practicum will be directly supervised only by clinical staff in the Department of Communicative Disorders. The schedule of these clinical staff must allow for 100% of each therapy session to be supervised, if necessary, even though ASHA only requires that 25% of all treatment hours be directly supervised.  

  While the clinical staff will provide whatever assistance is necessary for the student to deliver quality clinical service to his/her clients, including supervision 100% of the time, the student will be expected to perform effectively at the level of independence typical of students at his/her clinical level, for the performance to qualify as meeting the minimum expected standard.

• To guarantee fair judgment of clinical performance:
  • During the semester of clinical probation, the student will be assigned to a minimum of two clinical supervisors, of which only one would have supervised the student during the previous semester;
  • The student will be the sole student-clinician providing services to the client.

  In addition, the student will work with only one client per supervisor. To the extent possible (given the student‘s prior academic experience), each of the clients will represent a different disorder area and a different age group. To assess the student's ability to generalize from one clinical situation to another, one of the clients will represent a disorder area in which the student has had previous clinical experience.

• Prior to beginning clinical practicum for the semester, the clinical staff who will be supervising the student will meet with the student to review the areas of concern, identify the specific changes that the student needs to make, develop strategies for making the changes, and clarify the consequences of not being successful at making the changes.

  This information, in written form, will be given to the student and to the graduate student advisor, and will be placed in the student's department file, where it will become part of the student's permanent record.

• The student's clinical performance with each client will be formally evaluated by each of the involved clinical staff four weeks into the semester, at mid-term, and again at the end of the semester. Following individual meetings with the student, the clinical supervisors will meet with the UWSHC clinic coordinator to review the student's performance in terms of the documented areas of concern enumerated at the beginning of the clinical probation period.

  Following this review, the clinic coordinator will discuss the outcome with the student and notify the student of the grade his/her current performance would earn. If the student's clinical performance earns a minimum grade of B at the end of the semester, the student will be removed from clinical probation. However, if the grade is BC or below, the student will be counseled regarding alternative educational and professional options.