“Speech-pathology” is one of the many medical fields with plenty of job openings available. And as more students graduate and start looking for relevant jobs, a good percentage of those graduates are being made aware of a new technological development which is now helping this unique technique to reach even more people. The technology itself is nothing new, but implementing it for purposes of speech therapy is. It is known as “telepracticing.”
Telepracticing for this voice-pathology is defined by the American-Speech-Language-Hearing-Association (ASLHA) as “the application of telecommunications technology to delivery of professional services at a distance by linking clinician to client, or clinician to clinician, for assessment, intervention, and/or consultation.” Simply put, it means using telecommunications options such as the telephone and Internet to deliver speech pathology services.
Telepractice has been used pretty extensively for some time as a tool for teaching English as a second language, otherwise known as ESL. By extension, it should prove to have at least some benefit in this new technology.
Meeting the Demand
While telepracticing is not the standard when it comes to today’s speech-pathology-jobs, it is gaining popularity as a way to meet the ever-growing demand for new industry workers. A single speech pathologist in an institution using telepracticing could conceivably serve more clients in a given day, especially in rural areas, then a clinician who lived in the area where the patients were. This opens up the door to small American communities with limited resources as well as needy cultures around the world.
The ASLHA is quick to point out that for telepractice to be legitimate the scope and quality of services cannot be any less than standard practice. While telepractice wouldn’t work in many of the medical fields that require hands-on interaction, it seems perfectly suited for speech-pathology. In fact, some might argue that the audiological requirements telepractice demands from clients make it an even more effective teaching tool than face-to-face therapy. Of course, nothing can be determined for sure until comprehensive studies are done.
Speech-Pathologists in High Demand
Regardless, speech pathology jobs continue to be readily available along with an untold number of patients awaiting therapy. Furthermore, statistics indicate there will be a shortage of speech pathologists well in the future – maybe as late as 2016 or 2020. For young college students looking for a medical career, its one avenue that is wide open. There are literally dozens of universities around the country offering speech pathologic degrees and, in some cases, medical institutions even willing to help cover the costs of education.
The digital age has certainly been a boon to the medical sector in a countless number of ways. And although telepractice doesn’t seem as big advancement as some of the other things we’ve seen, it is important to those who benefit from it. In that vein it will be interesting to see how telepractice further evolves into the future. Until then, speech pathologists will welcome any new innovation that will make their jobs easier, and their efforts more profitable.