Research Experience

As a future speech therapist, I will work with clients to help them manage or overcome communication disorders. The field of speech pathology heavily relies on evidence-based practices, so it is important that I understand how research is conducted, how to analyze the findings, and how to implement the findings into my practice. In order to provide the best care to my clients, I need to stay up to date on the most recent research. 

​

Coming into college, I had some base knowledge about research from my high school science classes. Throughout my undergraduate studies though, I have learned a lot more about the research process. My second year, I took a class called Interprofessional Practice and Research. In this class, I expanded my knowledge about different parts of research such as forming a research question, finding and analyzing credible sources, composing a literature review, designing a study, organizing data, and interpreting the findings. This class helped me build on the knowledge I already had and begin to apply it to the field of speech therapy. As I transitioned into my first application of these research skills, I applied this knowledge even further. The first research team I joined was focused on a program called Garden EngAGEment. This program provides individuals with dementia and their care partners an opportunity to engage in sensory activities and meaningful conversations while enjoying nature. It also provides students or members of the community with an opportunity to volunteer and gain experience working with individuals with dementia. Joining this research team allowed me to put what I had learned about research into practice by developing a research proposal.   
 

Throughout my research experiences, I have learned about interprofessional practice. In each of my experiences, we either collaborated with people in other fields or explored previous research within a different discipline. In the research class, our research proposals were to focus on an issue within our field and some type of mental health disorder. This led me to explore scholarly articles about depression, which does not fall under my scope of practice. However, throughout this process, I learned about the importance of being informed about other professions as I will likely have clients with needs that overlap with other professions. As I participated in the garden, I volunteered with students from other majors such as nursing, social work, and dental hygiene. Again, it is very likely that I could have the same clients as other professionals such as these and we may collaborate. Working with students from other departments gave me a glimpse of what this may look like in the future. We can each bring our own strengths and specializations together to support the individual where they need it.  

​

One of the most prevalent lessons I learned, and the one that will be most applicable in my profession, is analyzing research and interpreting the results. As a future clinician, I will explore different assessments and therapy tools prior to using them in sessions. These tools include a section about the research behind their development and credibility. The findings can be difficult to interpret without knowledge about research or certain terms commonly used in research. Both the research class as well as my participation in the dementia research project have prepared me to understand the research behind these tools. I will be confident in understanding how they were developed and selecting the best materials for my clients based on the most recent research. 

​

As of now, I hope to go straight into speech therapy after graduate school rather than going into research. However, it will be very important that I understand the research process and know how to interpret the most recent findings. As a future clinician, I want to provide the best care to my clients as I can. This means staying up to date on all assessment and therapy methods. The experience I have gained in research will help me analyze recent findings and select the most appropriate tools for my clients as a future clinician.