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Courses
Courses
Choosing a course is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make! View our courses and see what our students and lecturers have to say about the courses you are interested in at the links below.
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University Life
University Life
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About NUI Galway
About NUI Galway
Since 1845, NUI Galway has been sharing the highest quality teaching and research with Ireland and the world. Find out what makes our University so special – from our distinguished history to the latest news and campus developments.
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Colleges & Schools
Colleges & Schools
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Research & Innovation
Research & Innovation
NUI Galway’s vibrant research community take on some of the most pressing challenges of our times.
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Business & Industry
Guiding Breakthrough Research at NUI Galway
We explore and facilitate commercial opportunities for the research community at NUI Galway, as well as facilitating industry partnership.
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Alumni, Friends & Supporters
Alumni, Friends & Supporters
There are over 90,000 NUI Galway graduates Worldwide, connect with us and tap into the online community.
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Community Engagement
Community Engagement
At NUI Galway, we believe that the best learning takes place when you apply what you learn in a real world context. That's why many of our courses include work placements or community projects.
Practice Education
Introduction
Practice Education is a significant component of the professional training for speech and language therapists (Practice Educator Competencies / Best Practice Guidelines - Therapy Project Office 2008). One of the key aims of the discipline is to provide a comprehensive practice education programme so that speech and language therapists in training achieve a high level of competence to work with a range of clients with communication and swallowing impairments on graduation. Practice education therefore occupies a central place in the undergraduate training programme and provides undergraduates with many different opportunities to integrate theory and practice.
Speech and language therapists in training are required to obtain experience in assessing, diagnosing and treating children and adults with communication and swallowing disorders in a variety of settings. The Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists (IASLT) require that speech and language therapists in training undertake a minimum of 450 hours clinical education. 300 of these hours must be with a speech and language therapist and 150 hours can be clinically related. Clinically related hours include:
Related experience - e.g. visits to schools/preschools, centres for people with disabilities
Focused clinical teaching - e.g. discussion of videos of clients with speech and language therapists in training, simulations and role play, tutorial discussions, guided practice with clinical resources
Student-directed learning - e.g. video/audio analyses, client/case studies, peer tutoring.
Much of the indirect hours are obtained at the University in the form of tutorials and workshops. These tutorials and workshops take place in each year and focus on skill development. In addition students have an opportunity with the support of a staff member to analyse and discuss client profiles (written and video) and engage in role plays and simulated practice. These workshops are designed to develop the necessary skills of a Speech and Language Therapist in a safe and supported environment.
In addition to tutorials and workshops at the University students attend placements throughout the four years. Some of these placements occur in the onsite clinic and others throughout the whole island of Ireland. Occasionally placements have been organized in the UK. Each placement has a different focus and is with a different client group. This ensures students complete their studies with a wide and varied clinical CV on graduation.
The following is an outline of the placement structure over the four years:
Student Year |
Semester 1 Placement |
Client Group |
Semester 2 Placement |
Client group |
Year 1 |
No placement while we await garda clearance |
N/A |
School language enhancement programme (20 hours)
|
Typically developing children.
|
Year 2 |
Onsite clinic (Paired with a Year 4 student who supports their learning) (50 hours) |
Children with “straightforward presentations” |
Block Placement (140 hours) |
Community care caseload. |
Year 3 |
Hospital visits/specialist clinics (50 hours) |
Adults with neurological conditions., voice, fluency, adult neurology, paediatric assessment, clients with down syndrome |
Block placement (175 hours) |
Children/Adults with “complex” needs. |
Year 4 |
Onsite clinic (Paired with a Year 2 student) (50 hours) |
Children with “straightforward” presentations. Year 4 students mentor Year 2 students on this placement thus developing their teaching skills prior to graduation. |
Block placement (224 hours) |
Children/Adults with “complex” needs |
The Practice Education module has been designed to be developmental, introducing students to caseloads of greater complexity and increased workloads as they progress through their training. Students are supported on all their placements by members of the Practice Education team. Some of the team are based in the University and others in different locations throughout the country.
Practice Education Assessment Forms
Level 1 - Novice Clinician Assessment Form & Indicators
Level 2 - Transition Assessment Form & Indicators
Level 3 - Entry Level Assessment Form & Indicators