Fifteen College of Health Professions students are the first in a new three-year masters program to learn how to help people who have difficulty communicating.

The Communication Science and Disorders program, which began in May, teaches students how to improve the communicating abilities of people who experience speech and language deficits due to developmental disabilities, illness or surgery. Students also learn to assess and treat cognitive and communicative and swallowing disorders.

Program director Elise Davis-McFarland, Ph.D., said that the course work is designed to prepare students for work in a medical setting, such as a hospital or a long term care facility. “This has been an extremely popular program right from the start,” Davis-McFarland said. She added that because of the stiff competition for admittance, many of the students already have advanced degrees in other disciplines. She said plans for growth include raising the class size to 20 next year and 25 the third year. “Then we’ll hold it at that level for awhile. We’re also in the process of recruiting faculty. This is one of the college’s fastest growing programs.”

Davis-McFarland and speech language pathologist Laurel Hard are the program’s two full-time faculty members. They lead the students through the disciplines and techniques they will need to help their clients capitalize on the communication abilities they have. Often, they employ alternative forms of communication, including communication devices and computers.

Other faculty members who contribute to the teaching include Flint Boettcher, Ph.D., who teaches a class in audiology research during the summer, Gilson Capilouto, who teaches language development course with Davis-McFarland, and CHP dean John Johnson, Ph.D., teaching speech and hearing science. Following 25 hours of observation, the students are introduced to clinical work in the various aspects of medical speech and language pathology.

In the typical clinical setting they will work as part of an interdisciplinary team of health care professionals who may include occupational therapists, physical therapists, psychiatrists and other doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, social workers, and dietitians.

Upon completion, they will hold master of science degrees in rehabilitation in communication science disorders.