JCPSLP November 2017

Supporting social, emotional and mental health and well-being: Roles of speech-language pathologists

NUSpeech A model for international clinical placements in speech-language pathology Sally Hewat, Joanne Walters, Thizbe Wenger, Annemarie Laurence, and Gwendalyn Webb

Since 2008, final year students in the speech- language pathology program at the University of Newcastle (UON) have had the opportunity to gain clinical experience in Viet Nam. This paper will share the development and structure of NUSpeech, an international clinical placement model that has evolved over the past four years. The model incorporates key principles of clinical education to ensure students progress towards entry-level competency, while actively engaging in curriculum and implementing practices that highlight sustainability, partnerships, and capacity building for speech-language pathology practice in majority-world countries. S peech-language pathologists and speech-language pathology students have for some time now travelled internationally to provide services and undertake clinical placements in majority-world countries (e.g., McAllister et al., 2010; McAllister, Woodward & Nagarajan, 2016; Whiteford & McAllister, 2007; Wylie, McAllister, Davidson & Marshall, 2016). Speech-language pathology practice and training undertaken in these countries has been driven by the very real need for services internationally, as well as the well-documented benefits of international clinical placements for students’ personal and professional learning and growth (Amery, 2011; Simonelis, Njelesani, Novak, Kuzma, & Cameron, 2011; Stevens, Peisker, Mathisen, & Woodward, 2010). Since 2014, the University of Newcastle (UON) speech pathology discipline has obtained government support for students to engage in clinical practice internationally. This, combined with an increased number of commercially operated student mobility organisations, has improved opportunities available for students in this context. However, alongside these opportunities, concerns have arisen regarding the sustainability of services provided during international clinical placements and whether benefits extend to all stakeholders involved. Consideration of these factors in addition to the slow but sustained growth of speech-language pathology within majority- world countries has led to a change in the context of service provision. These contextual changes suggest that partnerships, sustainability, and capacity building are

important considerations when establishing international clinical placement programs. Between 2008 and 2010 speech-language pathology student volunteers from UON visited Viet Nam with Ms Sue Woodward to provide services, education and information at various organisations. Anecdotal feedback on the student experience was very positive (Amery, 2011; Stevens, Peisker, Mathisen, & Woodward, 2010) and stimulated further interest and opportunity for future clinical, education and research collaborations. With the support of Ms Sue Woodward and Trinh Foundation Australia, throughout 2011 and 2012 academic staff members from the UON visited and worked in Viet Nam. During this time staff built trust, established relationships, formalised partnerships and eventually developed a clinical placement opportunity. In April 2013 the first three-week international clinical placement in Viet Nam was trialled in partnership with the Kianh Foundation Centre for the Development of Children with Disabilities located in Bien Dan province, Central Viet Nam, and graduate speech therapists from Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine (UPNT) in Ho Chi Minh City. AsiaBound and short-term mobility funding through the New Colombo Plan (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2017) have enabled continuity of the program and the Speech Pathology in Viet Nam (SPinVietNam) placement program was formally established. An informal evaluation of SPinVietNam was carried out, involving key stakeholders – organisations in Viet Nam, Vietnamese speech therapy graduates, UON students and clinical educators. The results indicated that three components of the international placement were essential to its success: (a) adequate preparation (including careful student selection), (b) variety in placement experiences, and (c) opportunity for debrief and dissemination. The three phases of the placement formed the basis of the development of the early international placement model: preparation, placement and debrief/dissemination (PPD) model. Over four years, 47 final year speech-language pathology students and eight different faculty staff (as clinical educators) have been involved in assessable clinical placements in Viet Nam (SPinVietNam). Reflection in action (Schon, 1983, 1987), and a need to replicate the program with different partner organisations and in different countries, led to further development of the early PPD model into the current NUSpeech international clinical placement model for speech-language pathology (NUSpeech). A summary of the development of the NUSpeech model between 2008 and 2016 is provided in Figure 1.

KEYWORDS CAPACITY BUILDING CLINICAL EDUCATION

INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN PEER- REVIEWED

Sally Hewat (top), Joanne Walters (centre) and Thizbe Wenger

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JCPSLP Volume 19, Number 3 2017

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