I'm going to answer about a job I used to have. I don't work at it anymore (it was a good career, but it didn't really suit me), but I thought perhaps you might like to hear about it anyway.
What your job title is, and what that means Title: Speech-Language Pathologist What it means: I helped people who had trouble communicating, through injury or illness or other problems - I even helped people reduce their foreign accents. I taught them ways to communicate - to understand and to be understood. I also worked with people who had swallowing problems.
A description of a typical day This depends on what type of people you work with. I had an internship with preschoolers, and one in a hospital. And then I worked at a nursing home. The "typical day" was very different for each one. But the overall pattern is that I would have certain patients I would treat each day. I would get my materials together at night at home, or early that day, choosing exercises that I thought would be useful, to get them closer to their goals. If I had someone new, then I would test them, to see what was wrong, and start to set goals so they could get better. I would write reports on what I did, so doctors and family and insurance companies could see.
What you need in the way of training/education/experience to do this job
You need a Master's Degree in Speech-language pathology, which takes 2 years. You can get an undergraduate degree in another field (I did - anthropology), but then you need to take some catch-up courses (about 1 year) before you can start the Master's program. You must also pass a national exam. The first 9 months of working are done under supervision from a more experienced person. After that, you get certified, and can work on your own.
Why you like it Communication is very important. How would you feel if you could not make yourself understood? Or if you couldn't understand someone else? The medical aspect - learning about the brain, and how we learn and breathe and talk and swallow - was really interesting. And I like helping people.
Why you dislike it This is related to the "what kind of person thrives here" question. It requires you to be very confident, and to create everything from scratch. You must choose the test on your own. You must decide what order to work on certain tasks. You must decide what exercises to do, and when to keep trying or when to give up and try something else. You must decide what will work with each individual patient. I like following *patterns* - maybe vary them sometimes, but I have a hard time *inventing* things. So this job was always very stressful for me, even though it was very interesting.
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job? For swallowing problems - if you don't help them properly, the patient can get pneumonia, which is very serious.
Otherwise, I suppose the main thing is - they just don't get better. But that's quality-of-life, not life-or-death.
What kind of person thrives in your job
Someone who likes working with people, likes helping, and is creative. And likes some anatomy.
Anything else you can think of that would give her an idea of what it might be like to choose your career?
One of the great things about this job is that you don't have to be bored in it. There are *so* many different things that speech therapists treat: lisps (or other pronunciation problems), voice problems, stroke victims, children, adults, deaf people, people trying to get rid of accents, swallowing problems, the list goes on and on.
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Date: 2003-04-23 07:36 pm (UTC)I'm going to answer about a job I used to have. I don't work at it anymore (it was a good career, but it didn't really suit me), but I thought perhaps you might like to hear about it anyway.
What your job title is, and what that means
Title: Speech-Language Pathologist
What it means: I helped people who had trouble communicating, through injury or illness or other problems - I even helped people reduce their foreign accents. I taught them ways to communicate - to understand and to be understood. I also worked with people who had swallowing problems.
A description of a typical day
This depends on what type of people you work with. I had an internship with preschoolers, and one in a hospital. And then I worked at a nursing home. The "typical day" was very different for each one. But the overall pattern is that I would have certain patients I would treat each day. I would get my materials together at night at home, or early that day, choosing exercises that I thought would be useful, to get them closer to their goals. If I had someone new, then I would test them, to see what was wrong, and start to set goals so they could get better. I would write reports on what I did, so doctors and family and insurance companies could see.
What you need in the way of training/education/experience to do this job
You need a Master's Degree in Speech-language pathology, which takes 2 years. You can get an undergraduate degree in another field (I did - anthropology), but then you need to take some catch-up courses (about 1 year) before you can start the Master's program. You must also pass a national exam. The first 9 months of working are done under supervision from a more experienced person. After that, you get certified, and can work on your own.
Why you like it
Communication is very important. How would you feel if you could not make yourself understood? Or if you couldn't understand someone else? The medical aspect - learning about the brain, and how we learn and breathe and talk and swallow - was really interesting. And I like helping people.
Why you dislike it
This is related to the "what kind of person thrives here" question. It requires you to be very confident, and to create everything from scratch. You must choose the test on your own. You must decide what order to work on certain tasks. You must decide what exercises to do, and when to keep trying or when to give up and try something else. You must decide what will work with each individual patient. I like following *patterns* - maybe vary them sometimes, but I have a hard time *inventing* things. So this job was always very stressful for me, even though it was very interesting.
What sorts of things can go wrong at your job?
For swallowing problems - if you don't help them properly, the patient can get pneumonia, which is very serious.
Otherwise, I suppose the main thing is - they just don't get better. But that's quality-of-life, not life-or-death.
What kind of person thrives in your job
Someone who likes working with people, likes helping, and is creative. And likes some anatomy.
Anything else you can think of that would give her an idea of what it might be like to choose your career?
One of the great things about this job is that you don't have to be bored in it. There are *so* many different things that speech therapists treat: lisps (or other pronunciation problems), voice problems, stroke victims, children, adults, deaf people, people trying to get rid of accents, swallowing problems, the list goes on and on.