Advice for Upcoming Clinical Fellows

It's that time of year again! Second years in speech-language pathology are getting ready to graduate and starting to consider opportunities for their first job. How should you approach your clinical fellowship? If our therapists with their CCCs could go back in time, what would they tell their younger selves? We asked some of our second-year speech-language pathologists and compiled their best advice below!

"My biggest advice for a new clinical fellow would be to be patient with yourself! You are not going to know everything or get everything right in the very beginning. You have the knowledge and education, but it takes a little bit to grow your confidence now that you are practicing on your own. So be patient with yourself, remain confident in your abilities, and utilize your fellow CFs, supervisors, and colleagues: they are amazing resources!" -Haley Simpson, M.S., CCC-SLP

"My advice would be to not worry about being perfect in your therapy and maximizing every second of your day. Instead, focus on getting to know your students and figuring out their needs. Spending more time at the beginning getting to know them and getting comfortable in your sessions is going to be more valuable in the long run than getting the right number of trials in right away. You can worry about that later, but first, get comfortable and breathe if you don't feel "productive" for the entire 20-30 minutes of your session." -Maggie Bill, M.S., CCC-SLP

"Take it one day and one session at a time! Write down your questions and give yourself time to critically think about the challenges you and your clients are facing. Most importantly, you are not expected to know everything! Trust yourself and the work you’ve put in the last 6 years!" -Samantha Graffius, M.S., CCC-SLP

Best of luck! We're all rooting for you!

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