Overview
Overview
Speech pathologists help people of all ages who have trouble communicating with others or difficulty drinking and eating safely.
As a speech pathologist, you may help children develop speech, language and literacy, provide feeding advice to parents of a baby born with cleft palate, use technology to enable communication, and support adults after a stroke, traumatic brain injury or onset of illness. You will work alongside other health and education professionals in hospitals and communities.
In this course, you’ll develop your knowledge of typical and atypical speech and language development, along with the mechanisms underlying acute and chronic conditions that can impair swallowing and communication. You’ll also learn clinical reasoning and practical skills, applying them to diverse cases.
In your first year, you’ll study communication science units and interprofessional course units with students from other health science disciplines. You’ll then delve into key practice areas, building the skills and knowledge needed to assess, diagnose and manage a range of client cases.
As your skills mature, you’ll apply them during supervised clinical placements in our on-campus clinics and various community settings. This includes opportunities for rural, remote and international fieldwork experiences.
In your final year, you will complete supervised clinical placements while undertaking an individual research or collaborative professional honours project.
You’ll graduate with the expertise and confidence to begin your career as a speech pathologist.
This can be a physically and mentally challenging course. Please familiarise yourself with the inherent requirements before applying.
What jobs can the Speech Pathology course lead to?
Careers
- Speech pathologist
Industries
- Education and training
- Healthcare
- Public administration and safety
- Social assistance
What you'll learn
- apply knowledge of human communication science to the delivery of speech pathology services and research in diverse and changing settings
- critically analyse information to plan, implement and evaluate speech pathology services and research
- locate, extract and critically appraise evidence and information from a range of resources to solve theoretical and applied problems in human communication science
- demonstrate excellence in written, verbal and non-verbal communication skills appropriate to the discipline within a legal and ethical framework
- use technologies relevant to the human communication sciences to inform clinical practice and research
- understand and implement varied learning strategies, and take responsibility for ongoing professional and personal development
- incorporate and demonstrate awareness of global or international perspectives in health care to clinical practice and research in speech pathology
- demonstrate awareness of and respect for individual human rights and cultural diversity
- independently and collaboratively apply professional skills in an ethical manner across a range of professional settings
