The speech-language pathology clinical fellowship year (CFY) is a 36-week experience where you transition from being a student to being an independent provider of speech-language pathology (SLP) clinical services. The fellowship is required as part of the American Speech and Hearing Association’s (ASHA’s) Certificate of Clinical Competence for Speech-Language Pathologists (CCC-SLP).
Goals of the CFY
Over the course of your fellowship year, you will receive mentoring from a practitioner who has already achieved the CCC-SLP in order to:
- Integrate knowledge and skills from your academic program into a practice environment.
- Identify your strengths and weaknesses as an SLP.
- Improve your patient care and clinical skills.
- Transition to working as an independent SLP practitioner from a practitioner requiring supervision.
CFY Requirements
Requirements for the CCC-SLP include:
- 1,260 hours of supervision. Supervision can be achieved either through full-time (35 hours per week for 36 weeks) or part-time (minimum of 5 hours per week) practice. However, you cannot shorten the 36-week internship by working more than 35 hours per week.
- A mentor. You must work with a mentor who has already achieved their CCC-SLP and is approved by the ASHA.
- Clinical practice. At least 80% of your time needs to be in direct patient care. This would include activities such as:
- Assessment
- Diagnosis
- Evaluation and treatment
- Family conferences
- Report writing
- Consultation with clients
- Counseling
- An evaluation. Your mentor will need to evaluate your skills prior to completion of your CFY. You must obtain a score of 3 or better on all core skills. You are graded on a 1-to-5 scale, with 5 representing “most effective performance” and 1 representing “least effective performance.” Your mentor will be asked to consider the following when making an assessment of your skills:
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- Accuracy. How well you perform skills without making errors.
- Consistency. How well you perform a skill across all the patients you see and treat.
- Independence. How well you can perform a skill without supervision or assistance.
- Supervisory guidance. Whether or not you seek consultation when needed.
Areas of assessment include:
- Ability to implement screening procedures
- Ability to obtain and record case histories
- Selecting and implementing appropriate evaluation procedures
- Adapting interviews and testing to your clients’ needs
- Interpretation of test results and integration to develop a diagnostic impression
- Develops appropriate treatment plans
- Selects appropriate interventions
- Develops an appropriate plan for monitoring ongoing treatment and progress
- Adapts treatment plan to meet clients’ needs
- Maintains appropriate documentation
- Complying with administrative regulations, such as documentation and prescription
- Considers third-party regulations (e.g., insurance or Medicare) in making assessment and treatment decisions
- Demonstrates appropriate communication skills (including verbal, nonverbal, written)
- Makes appropriate referrals for other services
- Collaborates with other professionals in the care of their patients
By Pat F. Bass III, M.D., M.S., M.P.H.
Pat Bass
Pat is a board certified General Internist and Pediatrician He has served as a reviewer for leading national publications including Pediatrics, the Journal of General Internal Medicine and the Annals of Internal Medicine. Pat is also the asthma guide to About.com, a New York Times Company. Learn more about Pat on Google+
