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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples face significant challenges in accessing mainstream health services due to the ongoing impacts of racism, colonisation, and intergenerational trauma. To address health inequalities, it is important to build Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce capacity in the health professions where there is significant under-representation. A pilot mentoring programme was developed to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ear and hearing health professionals and students, which aimed to understand their expectations and experiences. Six participants enrolled in the study, two mentors and four mentees, all from a speech pathology background. The study found that maintaining relationships with other Aboriginal speech pathologists was vital for longevity in the profession. The study stresses the importance of workplaces and universities ensuring that individuals are not thrown into culturally unsafe situations and that they are culturally safe and responsive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There is poor reporting of the cost of simulation and greater transparency is needed. The primary study aim was to conduct a financial analysis of the university/training institution costs associated with a 5-day simulation-based learning program for speech–language pathology students. The secondary aim was to consider the economic costs of the model. Method: Costs associated with the delivery of a 5-day simulation-based learning program for speech–language pathology students from six Australian universities were collected regarding: (a) pre-program training, (b) personnel, (c) room hire, (d) equipment, and (e) consumables. Both financial costs and economic costs (Australian dollar, at June 2017) were calculated per university site, and per student. Result: The simulation program was run 21 times involving 176 students. Average total financial cost per program ranged from $4717 to $11 425, with cost variation primarily attributed to local labour costs and various use of in-kind support. Average financial cost per student was $859 (range $683–$1087), however this was almost double ($1461 per student, range $857–$2019) in the economic cost calculation. Personnel was the largest contributing cost component accounting for 76.6% of financial costs. Personnel was also the highest contributing cost in the economic analysis, followed by room hire. Conclusion: This study provides clarity regarding financial and economic costing for a 5-day simulation-based learning program. These data can help universities consider potential up-front financial costs, and well as strategies for financial cost minimisation, when implementing simulation-based learning within the university context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The sociocultural and historical context and membership of the speech-language pathology (SLP) profession underpins our norms of practice and our discourses. This context also informs and defines the ways that we practice today, including who we legitimise to enter our profession and why. In this paper, we used theory as a tool to critically explore how this socioculturally constituted knowledge and practice influences how students experience learning in SLP practice placements. Method: We used the theory of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (1991) as a conceptual framework to interpret qualitative data from two separate programs of research that had explored the phenomena of student learning in SLP practice placements. Result: The analysis cast light on how our understanding and expectations of SLP students' learning and competency development in placements is recursive and strongly legitimised in our profession. Students adjust to accommodate the professional knowledges, practices and expectations they encounter in their placements. This facilitates the perpetuation of practices proffered by the majority culture. Conclusion: The use of theory allowed us to explore the phenomena of student learning in placements in a new light, which unmasked new understandings of the longstanding challenge to increase diversity in the SLP community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speech Pathology programs usually send students to workplaces to learn clinical skills necessary for practice. During COVID-19, programs needed to respond quickly to ensure that students continued to gain the necessary experiences and skills required to progress through their program and graduate as clinicians, while simultaneously complying with COVID-19 requirements. Case studies from seven different universities in Australia, Ghana and Hong Kong described the diverse ways in which placements were adapted to be COVIDsafe, taking into account local needs. Some practices which had been included in placement education prior to the pandemic, such as telepractice and simulation-based learning, were extended and developed during this time. Educators, students, clinicians and clients responded to the rapidly changing needs of the time with flexibility and innovation, utilising a variety of technologies and tools to support case-based and virtual learning opportunities. Feedback from these diverse stakeholders about the experiences was positive, despite inevitable limitations and less-than-ideal circumstances. The positive findings provided insights for consideration in the future: could strategies implemented in response to the pandemic continue to be incorporated into placement experiences, enhancing current prompted exceptional responses; flexibility and innovation were accelerated in response to the pandemic and may transform future placement-based learning opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulation is increasingly used within speech-language pathology education. Research has primarily explored students' perceptions of learning in simulation. The aim of this study was to determine if speech-language pathology students achieved a statistically-equivalent level of competency when a mean of 20% of placement time was replaced with simulation compared to placements without a simulation component. This non-inferiority randomised controlled trial involved students from six Australian universities. Students were randomised to either a simulation + traditional placement group attending 5 days of simulation prior to their traditional placement, or a traditional only placement group. Their end-placement clinical competency was assessed using Competency Assessment in Speech Pathology (COMPASS®). Final data were available for 325 students: 150 students in traditional placements, 138 students in protocol-compliant simulation + traditional placements, and 37 students in non-protocol simulation + traditional placements. There were no statistically significant differences between groups (traditional vs protocol-compliant simulation + traditional Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon z = 1.23, df = 286, p = 0.22; traditional vs intention-to-treat simulation + traditional Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon z = 0.23, df = 323, p = 0.81). This research contributes to the evidence base which suggests that simulation can partially replace traditional placement time for speech-language pathology students without loss of competency, substantiating its value as an alternative placement model in speech-language pathology programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Clinical placements are crucial to the development of skills and competencies in speech–language pathology (SLP) education and, more generally, a requirement of all health professional training programmes. Literature from medical education provides a context for understanding how the environment can be vital to all students’ learning. Given the increasing costs of education and demands on health services, students who struggle or fail on clinical placement place an additional burden on educators. Therefore, if more is known or understood about these students and their experience in relation to the clinical learning environment, appropriate strategies and support can be provided to reduce the burden. However, this literature does not specifically explore marginal or failing students and their experience. Aims: To review existing research that has explored failing and struggling health professional students undertaking clinical placements and, in particular, SLP students. Methods & Procedures: A critical narrative review was undertaken. Three electronic databases, ProQuest, CINAHL and OVID (Medline 1948–), were searched for papers exploring marginal and failing students in clinical placement contexts across all health professions, published between 1988 and 2017. Data were extracted and examined to determine the breadth of the existing research, and publications were critically appraised and major research themes identified. Main Contribution: Sixty‐nine papers were included in the review. The majority came from medicine and nursing in the United States and United Kingdom, with other allied health disciplines less well represented. The review identified key themes with the majority of papers focused on identification of at risk students and support and remediation. The review also highlighted the absence of literature relating to the student voice and in the allied health professions. Conclusions & Implications: This review highlighted the limited research related to failing/struggling student learning in clinical contexts, and only a handful of papers have specifically addressed marginal or failing students in allied health professions. The complexity of interrelated factors in this field has been highlighted in this review. Further research needs to include the student's voice to develop greater understanding and insights of struggle and failure in clinical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a collaborative partnership between the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre and La Trobe University to provide speech-language pathology students with a one-day experiential communication skills workshop. The workshop focused on the development of student knowledge, confidence and the communication skills required to effectively interact with adults with communication disabilities. The program, outcomes, challenges and future directions of the program are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]