Finding an SLP Externship Placement

Graduate students are often wondering how finding an SLP externship placement works. All graduate clinicians in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) programs, must complete externships and acquire a minimum of 375 clock hours in order to graduate. Each graduate program handles externship placements differently. Some programs allow graduate students to find their own placements while others match students with sites.

In my program, we match students with sites based on location, preferences, and availability with one exception. Students can complete an away externship during their last semester, which is defined for us as anything outside of a 2-hour radius from campus. If they choose to complete an away externship, they find their own placements. As the liaison for our program and away externships, students are always asking me how to get the connection started. It’s easy! Below are a few tips to help with finding an SLP externship placement.

Just reach out!

Most of the time, just reaching out to a site and asking if they accept SLP externs is all you need to do. The site will know what the next steps are and can give you all of the details. Sometimes they will go ahead and set up an interview, other times they may ask specifics such as:

• dates of potential externship
• areas of interest (e.g., peds vs. adults)
• minimum days/hours required to be on site
• minimum number of contact hours needed with the site

It would be helpful to check with your program and have these details ahead of time. For some sites, the next step is to contact the program liaison directly. In that case, just share the contact information and let the liaison take it from there.

Introduce yourself

When reaching out, remember to introduce yourself. This sounds simple but is typically overlooked. Be sure to tell the site your name, the name of your graduate program, your interests, and why you are interested in completing an externship with their site specifically. It also helps to let them know the relevant classes and clinical experiences you have had as well as any upcoming experiences between now and when you would start the placement.

Site Requirements

Once you find a match, University programs should follow up to make sure the site meets all of the requirements and to establish a contract that protects all parties involved (e.g., site, student, program, and clients).

Externship supervisors are required to follow ASHA guidelines. These guidelines state that clinical supervisors must:

• ASHA certification in the appropriate profession (so SLP, not AUD)
• observe 50% of evaluations and 25% of treatment sessions.
• have a minimum of 9 months of full-time clinical experience after earning the CCC (some states may require more)
• have a minimum of 2 hours of professional development in the area of clinical instruction/supervision after earning CCC

Some states may have additional requirements. Additionally, most programs will also require a licensed SLP to be on-site at all times when a student is with clients. This person doesn’t need to be the primary supervisor but should be available in case there are any issues that come up.

For more tips on clinical externships, view my other blog posts HERE.