Preparing for a Pediatric Medical Placement

Off-campus clinical placements (also known as externships, internships, or clinical practicums) are an exciting and necessary part of the graduate school experience. The exact number of placements varies by the graduate program. The majority of graduate clinicians will be interested in some type of medical setting, either pediatric or adult (although if you are not interested in a medical setting, that is o.k. too! 😎 Below are tips for preparing for a pediatric medical placement in Speech-Language Pathology.

Clinician Characteristics

While both pediatric and adult medical placements are tough experiences for graduate clinicians, I believe the emotional stress of pediatric medical placements is often overlooked. There are a lot of positive and fun moments with medically complex pediatric clients, but there are some really sad moments too.

Pediatric medical placements are not just limited to the hospital setting. They also include NICU, home health, early intervention, and some private practices. In order to be successful in any pediatric medical placement setting, there are specific traits that are beneficial. Clinicians who excel in these placements usually are:

• Flexible
• Driven and hard-working
• Empathetic
• Good communicators
• Critical thinkers
• Independent
• Calm and collected

Before Beginning Placement

To succeed in any pediatric medical placement, you need to be committed to this population. The learning curve is steep, and the time commitment is high. Prior to beginning the placement, I strongly recommend you do the following:

• Develop soft skills (i.e., interpersonal communication, empathy, etc.)
• Know developmental milestones (i.e., motor, speech/language, feeding, cognition, play)
• Familiarize yourself with other disciplines (e.g., OT, PT, Psy, Nursing, PA, MD)
• Review common pediatric assessments (e.g., Battelle, PLS-5, CELF-5)
• Ask the externship supervisor what materials will be available and then review them
• Research information on specific populations (e.g., prematurity, developmental delay, chromosomal anomalies, etc.)

During Placement

Pediatric medical SLP placements are challenging but enriching! Once you are in the middle of the placement, you will be glad that you did some prep work beforehand. There are still things that you can do to minimize your stress and keep yourself organized throughout the placement. In order to have a rewarding experience, clinicians should be:

• Comfortable with interacting with caregivers
• Flexible and adaptable
• Willing to accept feedback during sessions
• Proactive in researching information
• Able to work collaboratively with other SLPs and related professionals
• Open to various supervision styles as you may have multiple supervisors
• Creative with materials and assessments

In the comments below, let me know if you are a student or supervisor and what skills you think are necessary for excelling in any pediatric medical placement. 👇 Be sure to check out my other posts:

How to Have a Successful Clinical Practicum (Part 1)
How to Have a Successful Clinical Practicum (Part 2)
Preparing for an Adult Medical Placement