SpeakOut_Feb2014_electronic

BRANCH NEWS NEW SOUTH WALES

Reflection on a Clinical Placement in Broken Hill

IN NOVEMBER 2013 , five peers from the Macquarie University Master of Speech and Language Pathology program and I embarked on the 13-hour drive west of Sydney to Broken Hill where we were to spend the next six weeks on a paediatric practicum. We were spread across eight schools within Broken Hill, the local Air Base school, and three schools in outreach areas located up to two hours outside of Broken Hill. Our role was to screen and provide therapy to kindergarten pupils with a range of speech and language difficulties. Diving headfirst into any new student placement can be an exhilarating challenge. Add to that the extreme heat, a new culture and a whole lot of dust, and you have Broken Hill’s ‘Allied Health in Outback Schools’ program. The opportunity to ‘go rural’ provided us with the chance to work with new and diverse populations of various socio- cultural backgrounds – very different from the city life we were used to. The aim of our placement was to provide speech pathology services to pupils who would not otherwise have had the opportunity to receive assessment or intervention. The placement itself is an excellent opportunity to obtain a truly

hands-on experience. While supervision and support is provided, students are given the opportunities of independence. Clinical decision- making skills are certainly put to the test, with screeners and individual, small-group and class-based therapy all a regular feature of the working day. The placement also provided us with the opportunity to be part of an interdisciplinary team, working with occupational therapy students to help develop pupils’ joint communication, visual perception, gross and fine motor skills. While there was a large workload, we still managed to make the most of the community lifestyle by spending Clockwise from top left: Rhea Garcia, Tammy Cheung and Angela Boylan are welcomed to Broken Hill; Sophie Foott, Tammy, Laura Blasdale and Laura Lengel enjoy some camping; and the girls hold their Silverton Hotel ‘Challenge’ Awards.

time with locals, stargazing into the country sky, camping and seeing local sights like the ‘Big Chair’ sculpture. We’d like to thank the Broken Hill University Department of Rural Health for the opportunity to undertake this placement. It’s certainly enriched our clinical experience and provided us with cherished memories. LAURA BLASDALE Master of Speech and Language Pathology student, Macquarie University SPA Student Representative 2014

BRANCH NEWS — QUEENSLAND Queensland speech pathologist named Indigenous Allied Health Professional of the Year TARA LEWIS , a speech pathologist practising in Brisbane, was named the Indigenous Allied Health Professional of the Year for 2013 at the Indigenous Allied Health Association conference held in Adelaide in November. Tara has over 10 years’ experience in supporting families in developing their children’s communication skills. Tara is the Director of All About Speech,

Tara Lewis accepting her award.

a private practice in Brisbane, and prior to commencing this practice, Tara worked with Queensland Health, the Department of Education and Training Queensland and Early Learning Centres. She has presented at several Queensland and national child health and speech pathology conferences and is a guest lecturer at the University of Queensland and an adjunct lecturer with James Cook University. She was also a Director of Indigenous Allied Health Australia and plays an instrumental role in educating

other professionals in best practice for working with Indigenous children. This award is a great honour for Tara and our profession. Congratulations, Tara!

DR JUDY GOULD Speech Pathologist

24 Speak Out February 2014

Speech Pathology Australia