Study Abroad

Going “down under” is a great opportunity to increase your understanding of the universal nature of evidence-based practice in the treatment of individuals with communication disorders. This course, led by Dr. Jennifer Watson and Mrs. Lynn Flahive, explores EBP in Australia, with a focus on fluency and speech sound disorders. While in Sydney and Melbourne, you’ll visit universities, community health clinics and hospitals where EBP is taught, developed, and practiced. Take the opportunity to reflect on these experiences when applying EBP in your current and future clinical work. These visits also include opportunities to interact with students studying speech-language pathology in Australia.

Study in Sydney and Melbourne includes visits to the following institutions:

• University of Sydney
• Macquarie University
• New South Wales EBP Network
• Australian Stuttering Research Centre
• Parramett Community Health Centre
• Shepherd Centre
• Melbourne University
• Royal Children’s Hospital

Through cultural immersion and experiential learning, you’ll be able to grow your appreciation for different world views about addressing similar communication health issues. Although students read and discuss these issues at TCU, context is essential to best understanding different perspectives, identifying resources, gaining insight and skill sets, and changing mindsets. During this Australian study, cultural immersion and experiential learning may include the following activities:

• High-intensity scavenger hunt
• Crash-course in Australian slang and customs
• Coffee ‘n art crawl around Sydney’s trendiest cafes
• Bondi to Coogee cliff walk
• Aboriginal heritage walk
• Shoalhaven river paddle
• Visit to Caves Beach (known as the best place to meet and greet Australia’s most famous marsupial – the kangaroo)
• “Bush Food & Medicine” walk
• Melbourne culinary walk
• Visit to Manly Beach
• Tour of the Sydney Opera House
• Visit to Penguins and Philip Island nature parks

This three-week study abroad course provides a multidisciplinary and professionally relevant international experience centered on health care, culture and communication for students from Communication Sciences and Disorders, Nursing, Social Work, Kinesiology, Education, and other related health or education professions. Graduate and undergraduate students experience the language and culture of Chile and Argentina while developing familiarity with the role of health professionals in medical and educational settings and serving individuals across the lifespan. An emphasis of the course is to expose TCU health professions students to healthcare education, practice and policies in Chile and Argentina while also exposing them to cultural and linguistic differences among those two countries and the United States. Students who are monolingual English speakers are exposed to countries with Spanish as their native language, although many lectures are in English and translators are utilized when needed. Spanish-speaking students are exposed to varied Spanish dialects in Chile and Argentina.

While in Chile, you’ll live in Santiago and engage in a learning activities with the Universidad Mayor and its affiliated sites located throughout the city and local area. Observe professionals at work in local hospitals, family health clinics, and schools. Cultural activities include a cooking class, a Chilean dance class and visits to cultural sites.

While in Buenos Aires, you’ll be able to fill health professions educational requirements specific to nursing, speech-language pathology, social work, and other disciplines. Groups visit the Universidad de Buenos Aires and affiliated health care sites and learn about practice and policy standards from Argentinian health care professionals. You’ll also be exposed to the major cultural and historical sites that represent Buenos Aires and Argentinian life and history, including guided tours of Buenos Aires, visits to an estancia to learn about the history and culture of the Argentinian gaucho, and tango demonstrations.

Undergraduate and graduate students obtain an internationally relevant experience focused on the recent development of the professional practice of speech-language pathology in China. This course includes visits to a university offering China’s first speech-language pathology degree program, as well as medical facilities and other educational settings. Learning experiences will include professional, educational and cultural sites in Beijing and Shanghai. There will also be an opportunity to participate in a service learning project.

The Davies School of Communication Sciences & Disorders’ United Kingdom & Ireland study abroad course is the longest-running international course offered through the department. This course offers educational experiences in Dublin, Ireland; Edinburgh, Scotland; and London, England; where you can learn about both professional issues and cultural traditions in the host countries.

The program examines semantic, cultural and speech-language pathology educational and practice differences between the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States. During the course, you’ll visit various educational and speech-language pathology practice sites in Dublin, Edinburgh and London, including Trinity College, Astley Ainsle Rehabilitation Hospital, Strathclyde University in Glasgow, the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children, the American School of London, and the Nuffield Dyspraxia Centre. Additionally, an emphasis is placed on observing and documenting semantic and cultural differences as students explore sites and activities in both cities, such as Gaelic games, Irish House Party, the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, and Edinburgh Castle.

This course is led by Dr. Chris Watts and Mrs. Lynn Flahive, and content is divided into three topic areas.

Historical development

• The history and evolution of Dublin, Edinburgh and London
• The history of health care and education in Ireland, Scotland and England, with a focus on speech-language pathology

Practice of Speech Pathology

• Separation of speech pathology and audiology
• Credentialing of professionals/ASHA Quadrilateral Agreement
• Academic preparation of speech-language therapists in Ireland and the U.K.

Service Delivery Models

• School-based services
• Cochlear implants and deaf/hard of hearing
• Pediatric hospitals
• Acute and rehabilitation hospitals
• Highly unintelligible children
• Stuttering/stammering

Learning is completely experiential. You’ll prepare for the course in the U.S. by visiting hospitals, schools, and rehabilitation clinics in Fort Worth and Dallas. These trips are used as a basis for comparing and contrasting similar sites in Ireland and the U.K. Along the way, listen for and report on linguistic differences in the spoken English of individuals in Dublin, Edinburgh and London, and compare the use of semantics to that of speakers in the United States.

While abroad, time is allotted for independent opportunities to explore Ireland, Scotland, England, and other European countries during weekends, creating ample opportunity to become a global citizen.