3.4 What does Devin like about his job?
Devin Lukachik and Whitney Chappell
As students weigh their career options, it can be hard to find something that is interesting, challenging, and meaningful, but working as a speech language pathologist is all of the above. Let’s learn more about what Devin likes about his job.
Transcript: “For me, speech pathology is important because, uh, communication is a basic right. It’s a basic safety need, it’s a universal, just, necessity that we should all have access to. And so being able to help rehabilitate communication and swallowing, because, I mean, talking and eating are two of the most important… things that we are able to do, most of us. And I love the diversity of the field, really just the variety of settings that we can work in. You typically think of speech therapy being in the schools, working on sounds and things like that, but a lot of people don’t realize that we work on feeding, we work on swallowing, even pediatric feeding in the NICU, bottle feeding, we have SLPs that are also lactation consultants, we can work with augmentative communication devices like the tablets or the, eh, assistive technology, we work with voice therapy for people that have voice disorders or difficulty producing voice, even transgender-affirming voice therapy, we have really just so many options available to us, working with neurogenic communication disorders, cognitive disorders, we treat cognition, we rehabilitate, uh, cognitive ability and executive functions as well, so I just love that no matter where I go, not only is there such a wide offering of job opportunities, but I can, if I get tired of one setting, I can go into another. There’s so many different things that I can choose to do with this degree.”
There are additional benefits as well. One thing that’s especially nice about SLP is that while it’s considered an allied health profession, for the most part the work hours can be catered to each person’s liking. SLPs that work in schools enjoy the regular school day schedule and many get summers off, making it a prime choice of setting for those with family commitments. Many pediatric SLPs in a variety of settings take one day out of the week to work from home, writing reports or creating therapy materials. Some settings, like private practices or telehealth, allow people to set their own hours. There are travel SLPs for those who enjoy changes in scenery. In the hospital setting, Devin probably enjoy some of the best hours of any healthcare discipline there—no night shifts, no “on call,” and he gets to choose the days and times that he works. Most medical SLPs enjoy a consistent daytime schedule without nearly as many obligations as most other healthcare professions. He also receives excellent benefits from his hospital. Most SLPs that work in schools or nonprofit medical institutions are eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which forgives any remaining student loan debt after ten years of payments.
