University of Sydney celebrates Speech Pathology Week

Alumni, staff and friends of the Sydney Faculty of Health Sciences came together recently to celebrate the 2015 Speech Pathology Week.

Hosted by the discipline of speech pathology at Cumberland Campus Lidcombe, guests were given the opportunity to hear about the vital role that speech pathologists play in closing the communication gap in indigenous children.
Guest speakers at the event included Dr Alison Purcell, BAppSc (SpeechPath) (1980), MAppSc (SpeechPath) (1988), Ph.D. (Health Sciences) (2006) and Stephanie Ruston, BHlthSc (Hearing & Speech) (2006) MSLP (2008)
Dr Alison Purcell is a senior lecturer and speech pathologist at the University of Sydney. Her expertise in conducting studies that profile the speech and language skills of urban Aboriginal children led to an invitation to become part of the Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health (SEARCH).
Alison provided insight into the study, the collaboration involved and the community engagement, highlighting the need to continue and develop this crucial partnership. Alison’s key point was that “all health professionals and researchers working with Aboriginal communities need to be brave enough to step away from the safe expert role to being a true partner with our patients and communities by detecting their voices, comprehending their message and then acting on their wishes.”
Stephanie Ruston is a paediatric speech pathologist who has been working with Sydney’s South West community for the past seven years. She currently works at KARI Aboriginal Resources Inc., a not-for-profit community organisation in Liverpool. Stephanie discussed considerations of working with Aboriginal Children in Out of Home Care (foster care), the use of a developmental trauma based model to work with these children and the results that therapeutic interventions have had thus far.

University of Sydney Speech Pathology School

In common with other departments at the University of Sydney, the discipline of speech pathology promotes students’ development of generic  communication and teamwork skills, as well as discipline-specific knowledge and skills. The course is designed to promote self-direction and encourages the graduates to have a sense of their own individuality and creativity. The university offers a two-year, graduate-entry Master of Speech Language Pathology program. It is intended for students coming from an undergraduate degree in any field, who wish to gain the requirements to become a speech pathologist.
Program: Master of Speech Language Pathology
Location: Sydney, New South Wales
Semester intake: March each year
Duration: 2 years

Apply to the University of Sydney Speech Pathology School!

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Are you wondering about speech pathology programs in Australia? Contact OzTREKK’s Australian Speech Pathology Schools Admissions Officer Jaime Notman at jaime@oztrekk.com, or phone Jaime toll free at 1-866-698-7355 for more information.