The new professional comes a'calling

I recently started, after a break of almost twenty years, the mentoring of two new SLP professionals. Recently, I committed to consider a third - yikes! Mind you, I've mentored a few dozen new SLP's at all levels of their career development, since taking this career path: shadows of a clinician during the undergraduate years; interns in a medical setting, prior to their receiving the master's degree; and lecturing to graduate students about aspects of the 'hidden curriculum' - that is, what actually happens during the SLP's clinical workday. 

 The Clinical Fellow is approaching that very imposing finish line, in the marathon race to our professional credentials. Over the weeks, months and years of classroom study and clinical training, an SLP student in the classroom injects her didactic learning into clinical learning. With necessary clinical training in the University clinic setting and selected practica done, the intern then spends the better part of a term in a community's clinical setting, where theory first meets the workday road. Following that, the newly hired CF will show how independently they can apply their knowledge, to serve their consumers and the support systems. 

And - the C's are only the MINIMUM qualifications for clinical practice. Training never ends!

 

 

When I first took on mentoring of young SLP's, the time interval overlaid that for the emergence for mitigation/prevention of serial harassment in the workplace. I had to deal with my perception of being a member of a significant minority in the field, who is also perceived by some as being a significant source of these problems in the workplace. It is what it is. It's a healthier and more productive workplace nowadays, and the forces of 'quid pro quo',  'hostile working environment'  and appropriate workplace banter can go bidirectional.  Anyone now completing their master's degree, and who has not yet internalized the lessons of serial harassment, will not make it as a CF. Parenthetical? It only shows that relating to your peers, is one lesson learned within the seminar called "Communication".

A CF remains psychically connected to her training program, and that's a good thing - because the idealism instilled by that discipline of class, clinic and practica, can easily carry over to her first paid workplace. The job of a mentor? Helping the CF sustain that idealism and enthusiasm, when her workplace tends to blunt or temper the role SLP may take in serving consumers. The CF is the local expert for her scope of practice, and makes her workplace more and more glad of that through the experience.