Dear Clinical Faculty Colleagues,
We are entering a new School year unlike any we’ve ever experienced before. Who could have imagined that less than a year after celebrating the School’s 50th Anniversary we would be confronted with a coronavirus pandemic that has brought many changes and difficulties to our work, study, and personal lives! In the middle of March, the School had to quickly adapt to public health measures to minimize the transmission of Covid-19, including curtailment of face-to-face instruction and research, and the postponement of student clinical training. The transition to new ways of teaching and learning was disruptive and challenging, yet instructors, clinical educators, and students met this challenge with poise, patience, and positivity. Our dedicated and resourceful clinical coordinator team, with the generous and capable support of many clinical educators, helped our final year students finish their programs so that they could graduate and enter the workforce. As we head into the fall term, we continue to be profoundly grateful to you clinical educators for enabling us to offer clinical externships to students going into their second year. It is only with your support that students are able to continue making progress in their master’s programs. While there is uncertainty about the future path of this pandemic, we remain confident that our collective courage, compassion, and collegiality will empower us to stay the course in the months ahead.
|
|
|
Congratulations to our deserving Clinical Faculty Award winners: Allen Shoolingin, Sherri Millham, and Donald MacAskill.
Every year, UBC School of Audiology and Speech Sciences (SASS) recognizes members of its clinical faculty who demonstrate excellence in, and commitment to, the clinical education of students.
This year, the 2019 Elizabeth MacLeod Award for Excellence in Clinical Education (Speech-Language Pathology) was awarded to two recipients, Allen Shoolingin and Sherri Millham of Vancouver General Hospital. We would like to acknowledge the longstanding generosity and commitment of both Allen and Sherri to the Clinical Education of SLP students. Our students describe Allen as inspiring and supportive, held in high regard by both colleagues and clients. Our students describe Sherri as attentive and a clear communicator of roles and expectations, carefully balancing their growth while modeling clinical excellence. SASS commends them both for their efforts and skills and the decades of SLPs who recognize these educators' contributions to their development as clinicians.
The 2019 Noelle Lamb Award for Excellence in Clinical Education (Audiology) was awarded to Dr. Donald MacAskill of the Vancouver Island Health Authority. Since he started with VIHA, Donald has been a gracious Clinical Educator, taking on numerous externships each year. Students have consistently acknowledged that Donald is supportive, engaging, and thoughtful in his teaching methods. His skill at tailoring his mentoring to support individual strengths and learning goals has made him an excellent recipient for the award, and we look forward to the positive influence he will have on future UBC Audiology students.
For information on how to nominate a Clinical Educator, please go to clinicaled.audiospeech.ubc.ca/education/awards/.
|
|
Congratulations to Li Qi and Rachel Kennedy, who have been appointed as the new Audiology and Speech-language Pathology Clinical Faculty Representatives (respectively) to our School.
Li Qi, RAUD (C), Ph.D, received a Master’s degree in Audiology from the University of British Columbia and a Ph.D in Biomedical Engineering from McGill University. Since then he has held clinical and academic audiology positions at major medical centers. Currently, Li is the practice Lead for Audiology at Vancouver General Hospital and a Clinical Assistant Professor
with the School.
Li has extensive experience in audiological practice, clinical research, teaching and professional management. He received the award of Excellence in Applied Research from Speech-Language and Audiology Canada in 2014. His research has been funded by CAA and SAC, and he was a board director with SAC.
Rachel Kennedy, M.Sc, R-SLP, has worked in the UK, Ireland, and Canada, with eight years of experience working in adult acute settings. She has specialist interests in the S-LP role in adult mental health care, S-LPs as differential diagnosticians, and healthcare planning and design.
Rachel has been a Clinical Instructor with the School since 2018. She uses a problem-based-learning model and employs an open, facilitative approach with trainee clinicians. She is also in her third year working with the UBC Health Mentors Program as a student supervisor, and is research lead at St Paul’s Hospital under Dr. Stacey Skoretz, an Assistant Professor in the School.
Thank you to Li and Rachel for devoting their time and expertise to these important roles.
On behalf of our whole School, a sincere, deep expression of thanks to Tracey Findlay and Jenny Hatton for their contributions to our School as our past Clinical Faculty Representatives. Their commitment to the School ranged from participating in school accreditation activities and classroom education to championing the clinical education of SASS students to our many stakeholders.
Our respect and appreciation always, The Faculty and Staff of the SASS.
|
|
At the SASS, we have been busy…
- All final year students completed course and clinical training activities in time to graduate on time. Congratulations to grads, and a big thank you to our CEs in clinic and the classroom.
- First year Audiology students completed two compressed year 2 courses moved from the fall into the summer in June. Thank you, Dr. Shahnaz for making this possible.
- All first year Audiology students completed their first externship in July to August with great results. Thank you, CEs for coming to our rescue.
- SLP students from 2019 entry are going into their first placement this September to October. Thank you, CEs and good luck, now Year 2 SLP students.
- Audiology Year 2 are set to be in clinic one day a week in the fall term.
- We all prepared for the arrival of another full class of 48 students in September.
|
|
|
Have you had a chance to review our Job Board? The Clinical Educator Community of Practice website includes a job posting board for Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology jobs within Canada. To see what's available, go to clinicaled.audiospeech.ubc.ca/job-posting-board.
|
|
|
|
|
