A Comparison of Level of Knowledge in Communicative Disorders between Senior Medical Students and Senior Speech-Language Pathology Students
In California, physicians are required to "refer and prescribe the extent and duration of hearing, speech and equilibratory services for their patients who are beneficiaries of the state's Medicaid program (Title 22, Division 3 and 4 of the Medi-Cal Utilization Controls #51096). The present study was designed to determine whether senior medical students have knowledge in all areas of Communicative Disorders which is equal to or better than that of the senior speech-language pathology students to whom they will "prescribe" when they enter professional practice. The study was conducted with the cooperation of students from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine and the University of Redlands Department of Communicative Disorders. Twenty participants from each university completed a 35-question survey which sampled knowledge in the five major areas of Communicative Disorders; articulation, language, voice, fluency and audiology. The data were statistically analyzed with a t-test to compare the total scores of both population groups, and their scores from each of the five major areas. The results were plotted on bar graphs, listing the means for both student populations. The senior speech-language pathology students scored consistently higher than did the senior medical students in all areas examined.
Communication Sciences and Disorders, Speech and Hearing Science, Speech Pathology and Audiology, Students; Medical -- education; Speech-Language Pathology -- education; Speech Disorders
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