June 2005
New National Student Advisor
CASLPA is very pleased to introduce the new national student
advisor (NSA) for the 2005-2006 term. Michelle Ciccia is a
first year S-LP student at the University of Toronto. Both
Michelle and CASLPA express their thanks to 2004 NSA Vincie
Lombardo for her dedication throughout her term and wish her
the best of luck in her future endeavors. Michelle looks forward
to acting as a liaison between CASLPA and the universities’
student representatives across Canada, as well as serving
as an active member of CASLPA’s board of directors. She
welcomes e-mails from all S-LP and audiology students and
she will do her best to address your questions, concerns and
suggestions. You can contact Michelle at michelle.ciccia@utoronto.ca
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April 2005
Update from University of British Columbia – Julie
Lewis, Student Rep
Many exciting things are happening at the UBC School of
Audiology and Speech Sciences! There will be two new assistant
professors in audiology starting this summer. Lorienne Jenstad
is currently completing her Ph.D. in audiology at the University
of Washington (Seattle) working with Pam Souza. She brings
research and teaching expertise in amplification, aural habilitation,
aging, as well as clinical audiology. Sandra McCoy is currently
completing her Ph.D. degree in cognitive neuroscience at Brandeis
University (Massachusetts) working with Art Wingfield. Her
primary focus is on the effects of age, hearing loss and cognitive
change on speech understanding, particularly in difficult
listening situations, such as background noise and/or reverberation.
Both are Canadians with BC roots, and are being welcomed home
as important additions to the school's educational and research
mission and its expanding audiology program. UBC is also currently
in the process of introducing significant changes to its M.Sc.
programs in audiology and speech-language pathology. Changes
will be implemented beginning fall 2005, with first admission
of students in the new curricula for the fall of 2006. In
December 2004, the BC government decided to extend their BC
Loan Forgiveness Program to audiologists and speech-language
pathologists. Audiology and speech-language pathology students
graduating as of December 1, 2004 who take a position in an
underserved community in BC are now eligible to have 33% of
their BC student loan forgiven for each year of employment.
Details can be found at: http://www.aved.gov.bc.ca/studentservices/student/finish/debt_red/bc_nurse.htm.
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March 2005
News from Université de Montréal –
Rose-Hélène Sigouin, Daphnée Lalonde-Gauthier,
Student Representatives
At Université de Montréal, Friday is synonymous
with the “Beau-midi” lunchtime sessions. A different
presentation is delivered each week, and a broad range of
subjects are discussed. For an overview of the subjects covered
by previous sessions, visit: http://www.eoa.umontreal.ca/conferences/archives.htm
Training sessions are also offered at the university on a
regular basis. For example, on April 7 and 8, speech-language
pathologists and graduate students in speech-language pathology
will have the chance to take LSVT training for people with
Parkinson’s disease. For further information: http://www.eoa.umontreal.ca/documents/pdf/formation_LSVT.pdf
In addition, thanks to the financial support that CASLPA
provides for student activities, we have been able to schedule
two upcoming conferences at the Université de Montréal.
The first one, offered jointly by CASLPA and the IRDPQ (Institut
de réadaptation en déficience physique de Québec)
will take place on March 9 and discuss intensive rehabilitation
following cochlear implant surgery. The second conference
will introduce participants to music therapy.
These events are always very popular because they allow students
to acquire knowledge on subjects not discussed in the curriculum.
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February 2005
Update from Université Laval - Monette Daigle, Student
Rep
At Université Laval, it is very easy to expand your knowledge.
Every semester, the speech-language pathology program publishes
a calendar of seminars and training activities. A seminar was
already held in January. Each seminar addresses a different
subject related to speech-language pathology. For example, one
of the seminars before Christmas discussed the importance of
play in therapy. Dementia, deafness and dysphasia are other
examples of the subjects discussed. In March, an entire day
will be devoted to work on dysphasia conducted by the OOAQ.
This approach is very popular with students because the seminars
allow them to acquire knowledge that is not necessarily covered
in class and, in addition, the sessions take place on site.
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July 2004
Update from the University of British Columbia -
Deborah Vigh and Amber Roberts, UBC CASLPA Student Representatives
The 2004 winter session has come to a close for students at
the University of British Columbia. First year students are
beginning their first set of externships this summer in different
settings all across attending our convocation ceremony on
June 1st at the Chan Centre on the University of British Columbia
campus. It is an exciting time filled with change as some
students have already begun working in the field and others
are currently on the job-hunt. In addition, this summer there
are six students working on their theses research, hoping
to advance our knowledge in the fields of speech-language
pathology and audiology. Areas of research include: wideband
reflectance and multi-frequency
tympanometry, spelling, deaf child-parent story reading, cognitive
advantages in bilingualism for language processing, use of
visual feedback in speech therapy from ultrasound for individuals
with intractable errors, and a reliable system to measure
comprehensibility and intelligibility changes in dysarthric
speakers over time. The UBC class of 2004 wishes the class
of 2005 the best of
luck in the next busy and rewarding year.
Update from the University of Ottawa - Bernise Doucette
(Speech-Language Representative) Pauline Léger (Audiology
Representative)
Our first semester at the University of Ottawa this year
was fairly calm but the second was brimming with activities.
A few second-year speech-language
pathology students went to Hamilton, Ontario for the OPSEP
conference, and second-year audiology students went to Salt
Lake City, Utah for the annual AAA
conference. Thanks to CASPLA, we were able to offer students
in the program the chance to attend a conference entitled
“Financial Management: Debt and Investments.” The
speakers gave a lively presentation and imparted a great
deal of information that is important for students to know
before they enter the labour force. Speech-language pathology
students also had the chance to hear a professor discuss how
the CASLPA examination is administered and the reasons for
writing it. Students were very interested in attending a session
on this topic and it appeared afterward that a large number
will be writing the exam in September 2004. We will also have
approximately 15 students attending the CASLPA conference,
in addition to the three students who will be making presentations.
Finally, it is already time for the second-year students to
leave for their placements. They are heading out across the
country (New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and the
Northwest Territories). We wish them the best of luck in their
placements and all their future endeavours.
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