Rationale
Speech and language therapy is an established profession in Europe, with well defined standards of education and professionalism. One area that has received increasing focus in recent year is continued professional development (CPD), in other words life long learning. Specialisation and CPD can significantly enhance the quality of care of the client with speech and language problems by enabling clinicians to provide effective treatment that is based on evidence and self-evaluation. Many national and international professional bodies therefore recognise the need for clinicians to expand their expertise by participation in professional meetings, through self- and peer group study and through further education programmes(see for example Comité Permanent de Liaison des Orthophonistes / Logopèdes de l’Union Européenne – CPLOL,www.cplol.org).
The PG Cert in Motor Speech Disorders has been developed to enhance SLTs’ competencies through guided training and personal development. They will acquire an advanced knowledge base of the field and improve their clinical and research skills. This will enable them to progress in their learning more independently, thus having an impact on lifelong learning long after the course is finished.
The aims of the course are to:
- promote evidence based practice by exploring the management of MSD in-depth in relation to relevant theory, clinical application and up to date research findings; and
- improve the participants’ research skills, with specific focus on MSD, through an exploration of relevant research areas and methodologies.