Name: Katie Michalak
Hometown: Southgate, Mich.
Major: M.A. Communicative Sciences and Disorders
Graduation Date: May 2016
Company: Beaumont Health System
Location: Royal Oak, Mich.
Amount of time at internship: September - December 2015
How did you become interested in becoming a speech-language pathologist?
I first became aware of the field in high school when I participated in a job shadow summer program at Oakwood Hospital. In college, I settled on Linguistics as my major and again became exposed to the field of speech-language pathology. One of my professors set me up to job shadow a speech pathologist as part of an independent study class and provided me with the opportunity to tutor a young boy with dyslexia. I soon realized that I was passionate about communication and being able to provide supports and techniques to people who have atypical communication abilities.
Tell us about your graduate school journey:
I graduated from the University of Michigan in 2012 with a degree in Linguistics and had no idea about the number of courses I was lacking to be considered for a graduate program in speech-language pathology. After applying to graduate programs and becoming increasingly frustrated with every rejection letter I received in the mail, I did some research and began a post-baccalaureate program at Grand Valley State University. In 2014, I was accepted into MSU's graduate program. The greatest advantage of MSU is that every internship is in a real-world setting. Through my previous clinical placements in an elementary school and in an acute care setting, I have gained experience with a variety of populations and disorders.
Describe the clinical setting and population you are working with at your current internship:
I am currently at Beaumont Hospital in the Inpatient Rehab Unit. Patients are typically on our unit for one to three weeks, so my case load has varied throughout the semester. The patients in the Inpatient Rehab Unit are not ready to be discharged, but they do not require the intense medical attention given to patients on other floors of the hospital. While on the unit, patients receive a combination of speech-language pathology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and recreational therapy. The majority of our patients receive treatment for higher level language deficits including memory, attention and problem solving.
How has your internship helped prepare you for your career?
My internship has provided me with hands-on experience evaluating and treating speech and language deficits and the opportunity to apply knowledge I have gained through coursework. I have learned how to collaborate with other professionals and how to provide counseling to patients and their families. In addition, I have been able to practice time management and flexibility. Finally, this internship has provided me with an experience in a clinical setting I have not yet been exposed. Over the course of the past few months I have learned a lot about myself as well as the field of speech-language pathology.
