SLHS PhD

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

rayven

New Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2014
Messages
7
Reaction score
3
Hi all- *note: if you do not want to read all of this, the last two sections will tell you what my main question is.

Let me start off by giving you my background: I have recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology. As an undergraduate, I spend about 1 1/2 years in a research lab. The focus was molecular work (so biochemistry, cell culturing, making DNA constructs and using molecular techniques). During my final year as an undergrad, I realized that I was not very interested in such work as a career, and as I tried to decide if I should apply to graduate school for neuroscience ...I sort of psyched myself out. I felt extremely unsure and it felt forced.

5 months later, I am now in a NIH funded research program that allows me to be an apprentice scientist, and encourages my process of getting into a PhD program. At first, I wanted to do the since I more familiar with the research setting and it would give me a bit of time to feel more comfortable making decisions that affect my life; I was sort of lost before I got into this research program, but I knew I had to do it to help me figure out my career/job goals.

This program is great b/c you can work with any faculty member who is willing to take you on, and after 2 months of doing more molecular work, I knew I had to change labs. I Asked around and I realized that I needed to stay away from molecular labs (so they don't give me another molecular project) and that I needed to do something that directly relates to humans (such as collecting interesting data from people such as ERPs and how people respond to stuff). Finally, I switched into a psycholinguistics lab. I feel significantly better here and I feel hopeful about the directions I can go in.

Lots of undergrads in the lab are preparing to go to SLP master's programs (a few want to go to graduate school for linguistic studies). I very much love the idea of interacting with patients and taking the time to help them out (I do not have much experience with it and have not done observations yet), but I like helping people in general and understanding their issues.

I am extremely interested in obtaining a PhD AND getting my liscensure for speech therapy along the way. The reason being is that I do want to be able to focus my career on topics that interest me, like autism or child language disorders. I am still new to the field, so I really want thoughts from those who have a PhD, but can still see patients.

What is your favorite and least favorite part of your job?

Members don't see this ad.
 
Hmm so many areas in SLP pro and con.... I LOVED working with adults, neuro, etc and was full time in home care as my last full time SLP job. I got burned out going into people's homes, many in terrible areas, many of whom had bigger problems affecting their health than the communication deficit. That prompted me to go back to school for public health. Now I miss the clinical side and I am slowly transitioning back in. Least favorites: treating poor candidates, (though this can also be rewarding in its own way) as many demented or degenerative pts are, paperwork or productivity demands. I was fortunate not have a problem with this but it is all over the forums in SLP (SNF productivity demands). As PhD I would think you would have a lot of options within hospital or Univ. settings that would appeal to both clinical and research sides. It is something I have considered as well. Good luck and keep me posted, I know SDN is not very active for SLPs unfortunately.
 
Hmm so many areas in SLP pro and con.... I LOVED working with adults, neuro, etc and was full time in home care as my last full time SLP job. I got burned out going into people's homes, many in terrible areas, many of whom had bigger problems affecting their health than the communication deficit. That prompted me to go back to school for public health. Now I miss the clinical side and I am slowly transitioning back in. Least favorites: treating poor candidates, (though this can also be rewarding in its own way) as many demented or degenerative pts are, paperwork or productivity demands. I was fortunate not have a problem with this but it is all over the forums in SLP (SNF productivity demands). As PhD I would think you would have a lot of options within hospital or Univ. settings that would appeal to both clinical and research sides. It is something I have considered as well. Good luck and keep me posted, I know SDN is not very active for SLPs unfortunately.

It is interesting that you decided to go back to school for public health, because I was really interested in doing that before I knew that Speech Language and Hearing Sciences even existed (nontheless SLP). I decided against public health because although it is really cool understanding all the different factors that influence health, I was not totally sure if I would like the day to day tasks of what I would do as an epidemiologist/biostatistics (they deal a lot with numbers). And public health is a very broad field, so I would not be sure what I would do with a master's in it.

Anyway, I have always been more interested in the brain and learning about the mind. I have visited the graduate center at CUNY and I really like it... so I hope I can make the application deadline for the PhD!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Members don't see this ad :)
@rayven, Have you taken any SLHS classes? Generally programs that allow you to become licensed as an SLP require quite a few deficiency courses (probably close to 30 credits) on top of the master's degree if you don't have an undergraduate degree in speech and hearing science. Just something to consider.

Good to see someone actually posting and getting a response in the Speech Pathology forum. :D
 
@rayven, Have you taken any SLHS classes? Generally programs that allow you to become licensed as an SLP require quite a few deficiency courses (probably close to 30 credits) on top of the master's degree if you don't have an undergraduate degree in speech and hearing science. Just something to consider.

Good to see someone actually posting and getting a response in the Speech Pathology forum. :D

Hi! Thanks for responding :)

And I am not looking to be licensed right away. I want to focus on research, and if I feel that it would make my life more fulfilling, then I'll get licensed later. So no, I am not taking SLHS at the moment.
I have visited CUNY PhD progra, and they say that I can apply as I am (with just a biology undergrad degree).

...I think what confuses people is that most people do a master's because they simply wanted to be licensed. It is not common to hear that someone wants to do a PhD in speech language and hearing sciences.... can someone enlighten me about this? Is the advice found on the internet geared towards people who only want to get licensure?
 
Can someone with a PhD in SLHS become licensed as an SLP without completing a degree in communication disorders (ie. a degree intended to prepare SLPs)? I don't know much about the licensing requirements (which I do know vary quite a bit from state to state).
 
Can someone with a PhD in SLHS become licensed as an SLP without completing a degree in communication disorders (ie. a degree intended to prepare SLPs)? I don't know much about the licensing requirements (which I do know vary quite a bit from state to state).

You do need to go through the training (maybe it will be shortened if you have a PhD, but you do need to get the master's and CFY to get licensure).
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
So I think I officially applied to CUNY for the PhD.... so nervous.
 
Hey guys! I got in! I am so happy :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Top