The effectiveness of mentoring speech and language pathology students when they face patients with cleft palate.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2015

Publication Title

International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Mentoring programs can boost Speech & Language (SL) pathologists' satisfaction about their clinical skills, increasing their professional competence. A quality induction program provides a bridge for an efficient and comfortable transition between theoretical knowledge and clinical practice in front of clients. This transition can be especially difficult when the SL pathologist confronts patients with cleft palate.

OBJECTIVE: To study whether a mentoring program can improve SL Pathology students' performance for treating patients with cleft palate.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: 18 SL Pathology students coursing the third year of a SL Pathology graduate program volunteered for participating in the study. The students were divided in two groups. All SL students from both groups were equally supervised. The students were followed for two semesters during their participation in the SL Pathology intervention for patients with cleft palate. The only difference between the students from each group was that one group (active group) was mentored by an experienced SLP who had previously received specific training to become a mentor. All SL students were assessed at the onset and at the end of the study. The assessment was performed through an analysis according to a previously validated scale (Learning Continuum of Speech & Language pathologists).

RESULTS: A Wilcoxon test demonstrated a significant improvement (P

CONCLUSIONS: Learning how to conduct an adequate and effective intervention in cleft palate patients from an integral stand point is not easy for SL students. The support and guidance of an experienced mentor seems to enhance self-confidence and improve students' performance confronting patients with cleft palate.

Volume

79

Issue

10

First Page

1708

Last Page

1713

DOI

10.1016/j.ijporl.2015.07.030

ISSN

1872-8464

PubMed ID

26279251

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