Oregon SLP programs: Uni. of Oregon vs. Portland State?

[isabellyaoyao]

Hi there, I recently found out I got accepted into Uni. of Oregon (my alma mater), Portland State, Uni. of Minnesota Twin cities, and wait-listed by UW seattle (Medical SLP). Definitely not going to Minnesota (too cold and too expensive) and I don't think there's much chance for me to have someone's spot at UW so my decision will likely be made between UO and PSU. 

I want to focus more on dysphagia and medical SLP so my concern with UO is the location where there are not too many medical facilities I know of that provide related services for practicum. PSU is right in the middle of Portland-metro but the increasing traffic and living cost is also quite intimidating.

I wonder if any PSU/UO current students or graduates can shed some light on both schools by reflecting on your personal experiences. I'd like to know 1). quality of teaching; 2). practicum opportunities (i.e. variety, easiness to be placed with preferred facility, etc). 3). support from the department (i.e. research opportunity, well informed with certifications in preferred modality, etc) 4). "employability" (i.e. Do employers find you as a PSU/UO graduate favorable?) & graduation preparation (i.e. Does your advisor help you map out, or at least inform you how to get on your career path as a future clinician specialized in dysphasia?)

Thank you all so much for contributing to the topic!

Edited March 9, 2017 by isabellyaoyao

[SL PB&J]

I'm currently a post-bacc student at PSU. They have an excellent employability rate (100%), and are well respected by SLPs in the community. They have stated though that it is harder for them to place students in medical externships, and they do not have a medical SLP track at the moment. However, there is a professor that specializes in dysphagia that also works at OHSU, so you could contact her for more info: https://www.pdx.edu/sphr/deanna-britton-phd-ccc-slp-assistant-professor. 

[isabellyaoyao]

1 hour ago, SL PB&J said:

I'm currently a post-bacc student at PSU. They have an excellent employability rate (100%), and are well respected by SLPs in the community. They have stated though that it is harder for them to place students in medical externships, and they do not have a medical SLP track at the moment. However, there is a professor that specializes in dysphagia that also works at OHSU, so you could contact her for more info: https://www.pdx.edu/sphr/deanna-britton-phd-ccc-slp-assistant-professor. 

Hi SL PBJ, thank you for taking the time to respond.  I did my postbac at UO and my professor actually said to me in spring that I should consider UO unless I get into UW because UO hired a professor in dysphagia 2 yrs ago. Deanna definitely has the perfect background that I'd like to work with but I also wonder how many students she can take in to shadow and mentor since the PSU program has 2 cohorts of 25 ppl. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it to the PSU open houses so I will have to listen to sharings from PSU alum/students!  

[Cowsy]

UO's dysphagia professor, Samantha Shune, is amazing. She just won the National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders Award at the Dysphagia Research Society's annual meeting. I haven't taken dysphagia yet, but I'm currently taking Motor Speech Disorders and she is a superstar. She's kind and relatable and also a genius, which is par for the course with the entire faculty. McKay Sohlberg, the program directer, is a preeminent researcher in brain injury and cognition. The program's emphasis on cognition and learning is one thing that sets it apart, in my opinion. One of McKay's priorities is preparing great medical speech-language pathologists. :-) 

UO's externship coordinator is also amazing. She will help you go wherever you want to go, as long as you also put in the effort. :-) There are lots of members of my cohort who plan to do our medical externships in Portland, and some from the cohort above us who are already there-- past students have gone to BIRC, Providence, OHSU, Doernbecher, CDRC, Northwest Center for Voice and Swallowing, Kaiser, different SNFs, etc. 

The variety of clinical opportunities provided to UO students is amazing. We have a specialty clinic model, so each term small groups of students are assigned to one specialty clinic. AAC, Young Child, School-Age, CAALMS (adult language), BRICC (brain injury and cognition), Fluency. The lead clinician of each specialty clinic is an expert in that arena. This is my second term. So far my clinical experiences have included:  assessing AAC needs and implementing AAC systems in elementary schools and a SNF, working with a client with complex needs who used AAC in our on-campus clinic, working with a variety of children on language, articulation and social skills goals at an elementary school, and being part of LAPE (Language and Play Everyday) and LAPE+, EI parent-training programs for children with language delay and children at risk for autism. I am also guaranteed experiences in working with individuals who have suffered TBI and have cognitive impairments as a result, adults with aphasia, fluency clients, more work at SNFs, and more school-aged clients, all in our on-campus clinic at at off-campus sites. The combination of clinical experiences and academic rigor is difficult, but worth it. 

I've heard that in the Portland area, graduates from PSU and UO are basically on the same level in terms of employability. UO is higher ranked, for what it's worth. 

Edit: a few members of my cohort do research with Samantha. I assume that will be an option next year as well. She let us all know about the opportunities at the beginning of the year. The professors and supervisors here jump at the opportunity to mentor and guide. Also, sorry for overusing the word amazing. I'm tired. :-) 

Edited March 10, 2017 by Cowsy

[isabellyaoyao]

14 hours ago, Cowsy said:

UO's dysphagia professor, Samantha Shune, is amazing. She just won the National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders Award at the Dysphagia Research Society's annual meeting. I haven't taken dysphagia yet, but I'm currently taking Motor Speech Disorders and she is a superstar. She's kind and relatable and also a genius, which is par for the course with the entire faculty. McKay Sohlberg, the program directer, is a preeminent researcher in brain injury and cognition. The program's emphasis on cognition and learning is one thing that sets it apart, in my opinion. One of McKay's priorities is preparing great medical speech-language pathologists. :-) 

UO's externship coordinator is also amazing. She will help you go wherever you want to go, as long as you also put in the effort. :-) There are lots of members of my cohort who plan to do our medical externships in Portland, and some from the cohort above us who are already there-- past students have gone to BIRC, Providence, OHSU, Doernbecher, CDRC, Northwest Center for Voice and Swallowing, Kaiser, different SNFs, etc. 

The variety of clinical opportunities provided to UO students is amazing. We have a specialty clinic model, so each term small groups of students are assigned to one specialty clinic. AAC, Young Child, School-Age, CAALMS (adult language), BRICC (brain injury and cognition), Fluency. The lead clinician of each specialty clinic is an expert in that arena. This is my second term. So far my clinical experiences have included:  assessing AAC needs and implementing AAC systems in elementary schools and a SNF, working with a client with complex needs who used AAC in our on-campus clinic, working with a variety of children on language, articulation and social skills goals at an elementary school, and being part of LAPE (Language and Play Everyday) and LAPE+, EI parent-training programs for children with language delay and children at risk for autism. I am also guaranteed experiences in working with individuals who have suffered TBI and have cognitive impairments as a result, adults with aphasia, fluency clients, more work at SNFs, and more school-aged clients, all in our on-campus clinic at at off-campus sites. The combination of clinical experiences and academic rigor is difficult, but worth it. 

I've heard that in the Portland area, graduates from PSU and UO are basically on the same level in terms of employability. UO is higher ranked, for what it's worth. 

Edit: a few members of my cohort do research with Samantha. I assume that will be an option next year as well. She let us all know about the opportunities at the beginning of the year. The professors and supervisors here jump at the opportunity to mentor and guide. Also, sorry for overusing the word amazing. I'm tired. :-) 

Hi cowsy, I just came back from the UO CDS visit day and it was wonderful to hear from the current graduate students and faculty members. Your insight is wonderful information and thank you so much for taking to time to respond with such great details! :－)　

Btw, do you know if most students here take loan to finance their education? I don't see many GE opportunities within CDS and I understand it is a common problem here for west coast schools.