Speech Pathology graduates have the final word

The first-ever cohort of Speech Pathology students from CQUniversity are about to graduate, but before they do, they are tackling some tough questions about the industry in which they will soon work.

This week the graduating class of just eight students made their final year research presentations to an audience of lecturers, family and industry representatives on topics such as ‘Recruiting speech pathologists for the future’, ‘Telehealth – the way of the future?’ and ‘Helping you help your children’. The first of the presentations resonated with the CQUni Speech Pathology staff who were also keen to learn more about strategies to recruit professionals to rural and regional areas.

Through their research, the students discovered that speech pathology students were more likely to stay and work where they graduate – a common trend in a lot of health professions. Therefore Speech Pathology students graduating from regional areas, such as Rockhampton, are more likely to seek employment in a regional or rural setting.

CQUniversity’s Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours) program is accredited with Speech Pathology Australia which enables graduates to practice as qualified speech pathologists upon graduating.

Speech pathology is practiced in a wide variety of settings – schools, hospitals, aged care facilities, universities, kindergartens, rehabilitation centres, private practice and mental health services.

The University’s four-year program requires students to gain competencies in a range of practice areas such as speech, language, fluency, voice, swallowing and multimodal communication, enabling them to work in a variety of settings.

Throughout the program students are also required to complete work placements in a range of settings, ensuring students are job-ready upon graduation. These include specifically designed clinics which operate out of CQUniversity’s own Health Clinic as well as work in private or public practice.  

Congratulations to our first graduates from the program. It is very exciting to think that your skills will now benefit communities across Australia and the World.