JCPSLP Vol 20 No 3 November 2018

visits to Ghana by professionals from other countries, are essential for the ongoing development and sustainability of the speech-language pathology programs in Majority World countries, like Ghana, where services are limited. Speech-language pathology is a relatively new profession in Ghana, with between 6 and 10 SLPs working in Ghana at any one time. Typically, only half of these are Ghanaian. Recognition of the need for services to support people with communication disability in Ghana started back in 2005 when discussions on training speech and language pathologists began among key players in the medical profession. These conversations included strategies for seeding the profession, such as the creation of scholarships to train Ghanaians to become SLPs with the view that they would return to the University of Ghana to commence a SLP training course. In 2005, the government of Ghana sent two linguistics graduates (my colleague, Clement Amponsah and I) to train as SLPs in the United Kingdom. The University of Ghana now has 3 full-time SLPs in post, which makes it the largest employer of SLPs in the nation. In 2016, the University of Ghana, commenced the first Master of Science (MSc) program in speech-language pathology in the country. It is of note that it took over a decade to get the program to a stage where all the critical elements were in place for a course to commence. The commencement of the MSc SLP program at the University of Ghana has potential for far-reaching effects for PWCD, not only in Ghana but for the continent of Africa where many Majority World countries are found. Partnerships and links with the SLP profession in other countries have been of immense value and support the establishment and implementation of our program in Ghana (Wylie, Amponsah, Bampoe & Owusu, 2016). A range of partner individuals and organizations have helped with strategy development, program planning, funding applications and resources, curriculum development, teaching and clinical supervision. The University of Ghana SLP team has benefited immensely from access to online resources facilitated by the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (Bampoe, Amponsah, Owusu, Wylie & Marshall,

Figure 2. University of Ghana

2016). The December 2017 edition of the Speech Pathology Australia magazine SpeakOut has on its cover page a photo of Associate Professor Bronwyn Davidson from Australia during one of those partnership visits, with the first cohort of the SLP MSc program of the University of Ghana (Wylie, Bampoe, Amponsah, Owusu & Davidson, 2017). In October 2017, I met with, Associate Professor Davidson to discuss issues regarding clinical education within our program. Following this meeting, I was keen to learn more about assessment of students’ development of clinical competency in the Australian context and opportunities for inclusion of simulation in clinical education. I had no previous international conference experience. The opportunity to attend the 2018 Speech Pathology Australia National Conference with the support of a SPA Grant opened the doors to my first ever international conference. How do international visits benefit the Majority World countries? Learning is an ongoing process. Stakeholders across all professions are expected to continue to learn (Webster- Wright, 2017). International visits provide multiple learning opportunities not just for the visitor but also for the professionals who reside in the country of visit as information is shared by both. Such visits can broaden the views of professionals working in Australia about

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JCPSLP Volume 20, Number 3 2018

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