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A speech pathologist works with his students

Is Speech Pathology Right for You?

Speech pathology is a very unique field, with a very specific set of challenges. While it can be very rewarding, going into it with both eyes open is important for making sure you don't commit yourself to a field and find out, after the effort and expense of education and licensure, that it's not what you want to do. So what does it take to be a good speech pathologist?

Be compassionate...

In any helping profession, from medicine to social work, compassion is a cornerstone. As a speech pathologist, you will encounter many people with difficulty speaking, for a wide variety of reasons. It could be something neurological, it could be a physical issue with the mouth or throat, or it could be something else entirely. Some of these people will have been dealing with these situations their entire lives. Some people may be coping with new life circumstances. Whatever their situation, they're going to need to know that the person taking care of them actually does care about them. Being compassionate will also help you remember to treat the whole person instead of just their condition, and will help you to be patient when the job gets difficult.

...But be able to leave it at work.

A common problem in helping professions is professional distance. Often, the kind of people compassionate enough to be drawn toward helping others for a living are the kind of people least equipped to deal with what they see. If you can't leave people's problems at work and have a life outside of it, the job can consume you. Add to that the intense workload, and you have a recipe for burnout. Be careful about how much you take home with you.

Be academically engaged.

Speech pathology doesn't have as big of a barrier to entry as a lot of careers do, but it's still pretty taxing. You need a master's degree, and you need an average of 10 hours of continuing education a year. The job also involves an understanding of biological and social sciences, including anatomy and psychology, and strong language skills. Many speech-language pathologists even take time to learn other languages, to make themselves more widely marketable. If none of that sounds fun, the field might not be a great fit.

Be a good communicator.

You're going to need to work well with your peers and your clients, and that means communicating yourself well. You need to be able to explain situations to the people working around you (especially if you work in a collaborative setting), but you also need to be able to teach your client. Being a good teacher means being able to break an idea down several different ways and walk through it with a wide variety of people.

Be able to balance workloads.

Being a speech pathologist means managing a lot of things at once. It means meeting with a heavy load of clients, but it also means juggling the logistics of scheduling all of those clients. If you work as part of a larger institution, like a hospital or a school district, it means lots of meetings. Regardless of where you work, there will be paperwork to file and bureaucracy to navigate. Being able to manage your time and juggle those responsibilities is a skill unto itself, and it's one you'll need to master if you want to succeed as a speech-language pathologist.

Last Updated: August 14, 2015