Plan of Study
The MS program requires 5 semesters and 60 credits to complete. Students matriculate for a Fall semester start only. Enrollment is limited to full time.
Core Coursework
Core coursework comprises content in speech-language pathology pertaining to both education-based and medical based service delivery with emphasis on interprofessional team dynamics. In addition, students complete advanced coursework in gross/head and neck anatomy, neuroscience/neurology, critical thinking, ethics, and contemporary professional issues.
Clinical Skills Labs
Clinical skills labs are intended to provide students with direct opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge learned in the classroom to hands-on clinical practice. Clinical skills labs may comprise such activities as simulated life-like scenarios using standardized patients and high-fidelity manikins or application of an assessment or intervention learned in the classroom. Clinical skills labs are generally 2 or 4 hours in length per week depending on a 16 or 8 week course timeline. Most core courses have both didactic and clinical skills lab components.
Interprofessional Coursework
Interprofessional collaborative education is infused throughout the curriculum. Similarly, not only will students receive close mentorship from program-specific faculty but they will have the opportunity to collaborate with interprofessional faculty from a wide range of programs such as education, biology, nursing, and respiratory care. Some coursework will be completed with students training in other professional programs. The critical thinking course series is the most explicit example of this model whereby students will have the opportunity to work within interprofessional teams on case presentations, clinical decision making and reasoning processes, and self-evaluation skills.
Research Requirements
Students will complete a series of three 1 credit courses aimed to prepare students to become critical consumers of quantitative and qualitative research literature and to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to design and implement clinical research. Students will work in teams (in some cases interprofessional teams) under the mentorship of faculty to plan, carry out, and disseminate their clinical research capstone project.
Clinical Practicum Requirements
Students will complete a minimum of 375 clinical hours of direct contact with clients/patients working in diverse clinical settings with diverse populations. In accordance with the requirements necessary to obtain clinical certification through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, up to 75 clinical hours may be obtained through clinical simulation methodologies.
Online Courses
Some coursework will be an online or hybrid online/face to face format. Didactic coursework in a student’s final semester is 100% online in order to afford the opportunity to complete an out-of-state externship.
Comprehensive Written & Practical Examinations
Students in their final semester will need to pass comprehensive written and practical examinations. Comprehensive examinations are intended to assess a student’s competency in both knowledge and skills in the practice of speech-language pathology.
Poverty Simulation
All students will participate in the campus-wide poverty simulation whereby students will experience what it might be like to live at or below poverty level. The simulation is intended to promote awareness of the societal effects of poverty.
Required coursework and typical sequence
Fall I (16 credits)
| Course | Credits |
|---|
| SLP 700 | Interprofessional Collaborative Practice and Contemporary Professional Issues | 1 |
| SLP 702 | Gross Anatomy with Advanced Head and Neck | 3 |
| SLP 704 | Fundamentals of Interdisciplinary Research and Evidence-Based Practice | 1 |
| SLP 708 | Human Neuroscience and Neurology (online) | 2 |
| IPE 710 | Critical Thinking within an Interprofessional Framework I | 1 |
| SLP 720 | Acquired Neurolinguistic and Neurocognitive Disorders I | 1 |
| SLP 7201 | Acquired Neurolinguistic and Neurocognitive Disorders Clinical Skills Lab I | 1 |
| SLP 724 | Pediatric Language and Literacy Disorders I | 1 |
| SLP 7241 | Pediatric Language and Literacy Disorders Clinical Skills Lab I | 1 |
| SLP 728 | Speech Sound Disorders | 2 |
| SLP 7281 | Speech Sound Disorders Clinical Skills Lab | 1 |
SLP 770
or
SLP 771 | Diagnostics Lab (10 students)*
or
Hearing Measurement (10 students)* | 1 |
*Half of the cohort will take in Fall I and the other half in Spring I
Spring I (15-16 credits)
| Course | Credits |
|---|
| SLP 705 | Clinical Research Capstone I | 1 |
| IPE 711 | Critical Thinking within an Interprofessional Framework II | 1 |
| SLP 714 | Early Intervention and School-Based Speech-Language Pathology (online) | 2 |
| SLP 721 | Acquired Neurolinguistic and Neurocognitive Disorders II | 1 |
| SLP 7211 | Acquired Neurolinguistic and Neurocognitive Disorders Clinical Skills Lab II | 1 |
| SLP 725 | Pediatric Language and Literacy Disorders II (online) | 1 |
| SLP 730 | Social Communication Development and Disorders (online) | 1 |
| SLP 740 | Augmentative and Alternative Communication | 1 |
| SLP 7401 | Augmentative and Alternative Communication Clinical Skills Lab | 1 |
| SLP 738 | Fluency and Fluency Disorders | 2 |
| SLP 7381 | Fluency and Fluency Disorders Clinical Skills Lab | 1 |
SLP 770
or
SLP 771 | Diagnostics (10 students)*
or
Hearing Measurement Lab (10 students)* | 1 |
| SLP 780 | Clinical Practicum: Outpatient Clinic I | 1 |
| SLP 785 | Clinical Practicum: Campus Laboratory School (10 students)** | 1 |
*Half of the cohort will take in Fall I and the other half in Spring I
**Half of the cohort will take in Spring I and the other half in Fall II
Summer (9 credits)
| Course | Credits |
|---|
| IPE 712 | Critical Thinking within an Interprofessional Framework III (online) | 1 |
| SLP 716 | Counseling and Effective Communication Across Interprofessional Settings | 2 |
| SLP 734 | Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders I (online) | 1 |
| SLP 7341 | Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders Clinical Skills Lab I | 1 |
| SLP 756 | Medical Speech Pathology within an Interprofessional Framework (online) | 2 |
| SLP 781 | Clinical Practicum: Outpatient Clinic II | 1 |
| SLP 788 | Clinical Practicum: Literacy Clinic | 1 |
Fall II (13-14 credits)
| Course | Credits |
|---|
| SLP 706 | Clinical Research Capstone II | 1 |
| SLP 735 | Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders II (online) | 1 |
| SLP 7351 | Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders Clinical Skills Lab II | 1 |
| SLP 743 | Voice and Resonance Disorders (online) | 2 |
| SLP 7431 | Voice and Resonance Disorders Clinical Skills Lab | 1 |
| SLP 747 | Aural Rehabilitation: Treatment of Hearing Disorders | 2 |
| SLP 7471 | Aural Rehabilitation: Treatment of Hearing Disorders Clinical Skills Lab | 1 |
| SLP 782 | Clinical Practicum: Outpatient Clinic III | 1 |
| SLP 790 or 791 | Clinical Practicum: School-based Externship or Healthcare Externship | 3 |
| SLP 785 | Clinical Practicum: Campus Laboratory School (10 students)** | 1 |
**Half of the cohort will take in Spring I and the other half in Fall II
Spring II (6 credits)
| Course | Credits |
|---|
| SLP 758 | Neuromotor Speech Disorders (online) | 1 |
| IPE 715 | Interprofessional Ethical and Legal Issues in Clinical Practice (online) | 2 |
| SLP 791 or 792 | Clinical Practicum: School-based Externship (Out-of-state option) or Healthcare Externship (Out-of-state option) | 1.5 or 3 |
| SLP 792 | Optional Clinical Practicum: Special Elective Externship (Out-of-state option) | 1.5 |
| Students may opt to take SLP 791 or SLP 792 for 1.5 credits (8 weeks), instead of 3 credits (16 weeks) if they wish to take an additional 1.5 credit (8 week) special elective externship experience in a practice scope of interest. Students must take a total of 3 externship credits for Spring II. |
| Poverty Simulation |
| Comprehensive Written Examination |
| Comprehensive Practical Examination |
Learn more about the Speech-Language Pathology program
Application Process
As of July 15, 2020, Carlow University is accepting applications for review with plans to enroll graduate students for the Fall 2021 semester. All applications should be submitted on or before February 15, 2021 through CSDCAS, a centralized application service endorsed by the Council of Academic Programs in Communication Science and Disorders (CAPCSD). No additional application materials should be sent to the program.