Speech is Beautiful

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4 Reasons to Become a Speech Pathologist

I came to speech pathology after a career change. I had worked in corporate America for four years when I decided it was time for me to do something different, something more meaningful to me. If you are wondering what to do with your future, here’s why I think being a speech pathologist is a great career:

  1. Working with kids is fun and rewarding. Every day is interesting working with kids. In particular, students with communication disorders have trouble expressing themselves and when they learn how to, they feel so much better. Small victories mean so much.
  2. Nationwide shortage of speech pathologists. If the profession is so great, then why aren’t there enough people to fill open positions? Well, you must have a master’s degree to become a speech pathologist: an undergraduate degree is not enough for the required certifications. Additionally, not every university offers the speech pathology degree. That’s because they have to (click to read more)have sufficient funds to support a speech and language clinic where enrolled students learn how to provide speech therapy to actual clients under the supervision of certified clinicians.
  3. Workplace environment for every taste. Speech paths can work in schools or hospitals or clinics or even private practice or home-based therapy. There are a lot of choices and certified speech paths can move between those settings throughout their lives.
  4. Flexible, part-time work is an option. Many schools and hospitals have opportunities for people to work half-time, which can be great for families with young children.

I have been really happy with my career as a speech pathologist and I recommend it to lots of people. If you have any questions for me about being a speech path, feel free to email me.

Comments

  1. Hello I am currently an undergrad and in need of guidance. I am thinking about switching my major to speech pathology but I fear I am not a competitive candidate. I am currently a psychology major and was pursuing a goal as a school psychologist but I want a career that is less stressful and beneficial to the community. What type of experience should I have before applying to a speech pathology masters? I am currently in two research labs one is in infant and child development with a focus on language developing and an autism brain imaging lab. Do you think these will help in some way ? or should I focus on something else?

    • Hi Laura,
      Being a school psychologist is somewhat similar to being a school-based speech pathologist, at least there are similar stressors. The students that I work with often do have behavioral problems (related to communication) and have complex needs and family situations. I think both jobs are beneficial to the community. There are testing deadlines and family and staff meetings. I guess I’m telling you this so you know there is overlap.

      However, you might be considering work outside of the school setting and speech pathologists can work in hospitals, rehab clinics, nursing homes, home-based therapy through early intervention, and hospice. You should know there are workplace stressors in those settings as well. In fact, I believe that in a hospital setting, which is fast-paced, there are significant workplace stressors because the patients are medically fragile.

      Your work in the research labs is perfect for a speech and language masters candidate. That experience will be very, very beneficial. Actually, that experience will make you a competitive candidate for sure!

      Good luck!

  2. Hi Sarah, I’m currently serving as an officer in the USAF and coming up on 5 years of service. I’m in the HR and Services fields and finding myself at a career crossroads. Managing people is just tough and unfulfilling for me. It’s refreshing to read all the positive things you enjoy about speech path. I definitely have a caregiver/teacher personality and enjoy work with lots of attention to detail. I have an undergrad in Russian, and no Masters yet. My passion is in the language field. My husband is an attorney for the Air Force and we move every two years. It’s tough for military spouses to find solid jobs. It sounds like if I can get into a good speech path program, it’ll be a flexible enough field for me to move around and actually enjoy what I do. Do you have any recommendations for schools? Are there online programs I can start with for the basic classes? Cost is not an issue; if I separate from the military, my GI bill will pay for school. I won’t be able to start until next summer and then we are due to move, probably to DC. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! -Megan

    • Hi Megan,
      Being a speech path is a great job. You can work in a variety of settings including schools, hospitals, rehab clinics, nursing homes, home-based therapy through early intervention, and hospice, just to name a few.
      Many good programs are in the Midwest, but I’m sure there are some in DC. Google it and you can check out certified programs at asha.org. I would say that online programs would be a pretty recent development — I don’t know of any right now. However, it might make sense for you to get some prerequisites done now. I was a career changer and I did a year of prerequisites including speech and hearing sciences, language development, and statistics. Every school has slightly different prereq requirements and many offer the option to take them while enrolled in the program. Since cost is not an option, doing them all in one program would make sense. I took the prerequisites at a cheaper school.
      Right now, if I were you, I think you should look up speech pathologists living near you and do a couple job shadows. That’s what I did. I saw a pediatric outpatient clinic and a private practice. I wish I had even done more job shadows since I never saw any school settings, which is where I have spent the bulk of my work experience.
      Good luck!

  3. Hi Sara,

    I’m considering applying for a speech path program this fall. I have my bachelors in public health but not much experience or exposure to those who have used speech path services or speech pathology in general. What initially drew you to speech pathology before discovering what a great career it was?

    • My best advice is to look up local speech paths and inquire about doing job shadows with speech paths across many settings. That way you can make up your mind on your own. What drew me to the profession was helping people. I had worked in corporate America and I felt that my work was sometimes pointless. I wanted to make more of a difference in the world. I initially saw myself in a outpatient clinic, but once I was introduced to the school setting I realized that was ideal for me. Good luck!

  4. Hi Sarah,
    I came across your site researching a bit more on speech pathology. I am currently working as an CTS RN, and while it is an incredible field I would like to transition to working with children. I don’t see myself as a nurse in the acute care pediatric environment, but I can see myself working as a therapist. I wanted to know if you know anyone who has made the change from RN to speech pathologist. Also what can I do to be sure this is a good fit for me.

    • Sorry for the delay in my reply! I would say that the most important thing you should do is get out there and do some job shadows across various job settings. It sounds like although you know that you want to work with kids, you lack a clear vision of how that would work professionally. Seeing therapy and the workflow of a speech path would be great. Check out speech settings like pediatric outpatient, an independent speech/language clinic, and even a school-based position.

      With respect to a nurse transitioning to being a speech path, it’s a relatively similar profession in a lot of ways. I don’t know anyone who has made that change, but I know it’s done. I think it would be an advantage in the application process and, down the line, in the interview process. Good luck!!