The Benefits of Mentorship for Speech-Language Pathologists

Mentorship during a speech-language pathologist’s clinical fellowship year provides crucial benefits that build competence and confidence for new SLP professionals. By integrating academic knowledge into clinical practice under the guidance of an experienced SLP, a clinical fellowship gains the skills needed for independent practice. Mentoring provides mutual benefits and offers many advantages for the experienced SLP as well. 

What Are the Benefits of a Mentorship?

CCC-SLP Mentor Benefits

Mentoring is typically designed to benefit mentees, though there are many advantages to the mentor as well. SLP mentors can benefit from:

• Connecting with new and emerging talent
• Building coaching, mentoring, management, and leadership skills
• Ongoing attention to the mentor’s career development
• Having opportunities to recruit and refer talent
• Networking opportunities
• Being able to give back to the association and those who have supported them
• Some mentorships are paid opportunities, which can lead to extra income

Of course, this list is not exhaustive, and mentors in different circumstances may find that they receive a variety of benefits from working with a mentee. 

CFY-SLP Mentee Benefits

For SLP mentees, being able to work with a mentor can be highly supportive. Some ways in which mentees benefit from having a mentor include:

1. Professional Development: With the support of a mentor, SLP mentees have a support system while they work through the most challenging and critical stages of their career development.
2. Confidence and Independence: With a speech-language pathology mentorship, mentees gain confidence and independence while having the support of someone who has already walked in their shoes. They can answer questions and provide guidance to new SLPs when needed.
3. Career Navigation: Mentors know what it takes to kick off a career, and they can even be excellent people to network with for future work. Mentees get the added benefit of support from their mentors, who can tell them exactly what speech-language pathology employers are looking for and what to do to stand out. 

Another key benefit of mentorship during the clinical fellowship year is that there is a structured feedback process that helps clinical fellows get the ongoing, regular feedback they need to develop their diagnostic and therapeutic skillsets. This kind of feedback is particularly helpful because it is given in the field rather than a classroom setting. 

Having a mentor who understands the role and can model the best practices like how to treat patients or how to handle documentation and reporting, allows new SLPs to get a head start, learn where they’re making mistakes and when they’re doing things correctly, and be prepared for when they have to fly solo. 

What Are the Qualifications for Clinical Fellows?

Getting professional experience is an important step in a speech-language pathologist’s career. Nothing substitutes getting to work with real patients in real healthcare and school environments. 

Clinical fellows need to meet several qualifications before they can take part in the clinical fellowship year. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, clinical fellows must work for at least 36 weeks and 1,260 hours to meet the ASHA CF experience requirements. Those hours do need to be spread out, with at least five hours occurring each week. Leaves of absence, such as going away on holiday or traveling, do not count toward the hours worked.

The clinical fellow experience has three segments. But, as a reminder, the clinical fellow:

• Must complete all required academic coursework, clinical experiences, and graduate credit hours as set by Standards IV and V.
• CF experience has to be completed within four years and cannot be shortened if the student works more than 35 hours a week.
• Has to track all the hours worked each week. 

Once these qualifications are met, the clinical fellow can begin the clinical fellowship year, ensuring they stay qualified throughout the segments. Each segment of the CFY is 12 weeks long, and at least 80 percent of that time has to be spent in direct clinical contact with disorders that fit within the ASHA Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology. Some of the things clinical fellows may do include:

• Giving patient consultations
• Providing treatment
• Writing reports
• Screening and assessing patients
• Attending Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings

Up to the other 20 percent of the time can be spent on training, presentations, or in-services.

Mentor Responsibilities and Qualifications

SLP mentors also have to meet specific qualifications and are expected to complete specific responsibilities during their time with mentees. All mentors must:

• Have a current CCC-SLP throughout the full CF experience. 
• Have 9 months of full-time experience working as a speech-language pathologist (after getting the CCC-SLP). 
• Have at least two hours of professional development in supervision post CCC-SLP.
• The mentor and mentee may not be related. 

Mentor responsibilities during the clinical fellowship experience include:

• Helping the clinical fellow improve their clinical effectiveness through feedback and mentoring.
• Assisting the clinical fellow with learning independent clinical skills. 
• Complete all feedback, ratings, and records in a timely manner as set by the 2020 Standard VII. 
• Give opportunities to view and rate all the skills from the 2020 CFSI.
• Meet ASHA’s ethics guidelines. 

Mentors also have to keep their ASHA certification status current and provide the minimum required on-site and in-person supervisory activities per segment. 

SHC Believes in Mentorship that Builds Strong Careers

The right mentorship can make a difference during the clinical fellowship year and can be beneficial not only for mentees but also for mentors themselves. With a speech-language pathologist mentor, clinical fellows get to build up their confidence, become more independent, and learn the critical skills they will need to do their job in the future.

SLP mentors benefit, too, by being able to connect with up-and-coming talent and teach those who are going to have an impact on the field in the future. Building a network and community together, mentors and mentees can have a positive impact on patient care.

Supplemental Health Care supports CFY-SLPs and CCC-SLPs through their careers with its BUILD mentorship program to match mentees and mentors with fulfilling careers and financial compensation for participating. By fostering these relationships, new clinicians can be prepared to deliver the high-quality care and support patients need when working as an SLP.