NAANKI PASRICHA

I graduated from La Trobe University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Health Sciences, Speech Pathology (Hons). For the last two and half years I have been working with Northern Health Service where I have gained experience in working in an acute hospital, inpatient rehabilitation and community therapy services. I have seen a diverse range of clients from premature babies with feeding difficulties, to adults who require voice therapy and adults with communication and swallowing difficulties following a stroke or with a progressive condition like Parkinson’s Disease or Motor Neuron Disease. In addition, I have also been working as a research assistant at La Trobe University continuing with the research project I commenced as part of my honours year in 2003.

I am now about to head overseas to Bangladesh to work at the Centre for Rehabilitation of the Paralysed and the Bangladesh Health Professions Institute as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development. I will be volunteering at these organisations for 12 months assisting with the development of their speech pathology course and training the locals in speech pathology. This will assist in contributing to the sustainable development of the profession in Bangladesh.

Even though I have only been working for a short time I have had such diverse experiences. Speech Pathology has provided me with wide and varied opportunities beyond what I could have ever imagined. I feel that I’ve barely scratched the surface! Who knows what I’ll do next…

As seems to be an increasing trend for young people entering the workforce, my career has taken a series of twists and turns before finally arriving at Speech Pathology. I originally completed a Journalism degree at RMIT and began working at various sporting websites including theage.com.au and sportal.com.au and writing pieces for magazines and books. Unfortunately employment was a little too random for my liking and there was a growing sense that no-one actually gave a damn about what I was writing. So after stints in marketing and public relations I decided to investigate a field that makes a positive difference to others on a daily basis.

Speech Pathology offers such a wide variety of clients, from paediatrics to the elderly and everyone in between. Importantly, a speech pathologist does not just treat speech impairments or stuttering, as is commonly believed. In fact, our field stretches to include language, voice, speech, swallowing and fluency.
Since completing my degree I’ve commenced work at a metropolitan hospital and primarily work in the stroke unit. Yet everyday myself and my colleagues also see patients following head injury, cancer, neurological conditions, mental illness, surgery etc. The differences made to these patients on a daily basis to improve communication and swallowing ad their reactions are what bring you back to work each day. It certainly is a very rewarding profession with plenty of scope for variety and development.

DAMIEN ROBERTS

I have spent most of my working life as a speech pathologist in acute hospitals – my first student placement sealed the deal for me! I find the dynamic pace stimulating, especially working in a tertiary teaching hospital, where there is a great emphasis on research and innovation.

I have worked with many different types of people as an acute speech pathologist working with adult patients. These include people who have difficulty speaking or swallowing after a stroke, surgery for head and neck cancer, brain tumours or neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis. In the last two years, I have also worked with people who have suffered spinal cord injury, and have difficulty speaking or swallowing because they have a tracheostomy tube in their neck to help them breathe.

Whilst being a speech pathologist gives me great satisfaction in helping people in a time where they are quite sick, I am constantly grateful for the things my patients teach me. The therapist/patient relationship is definitely a two-way street!