§ 45.20. Supervised professional experience required for licensure as a speech-language pathologist.
(a) The applicant shall begin the supervised professional experience within 4 years of conferral of the degree, and shall complete no less than 1,260 hours in no less than 9 months, but no more than 2 years.
(b) The Board may waive the requirements in subsection (a) in the case of demonstrated undue hardship, military service or other good cause shown by the applicant.
(c) The applicant shall complete the supervised professional experience under the supervision of a currently licensed speech-language pathologist in the state or jurisdiction where the supervised professional experience is being obtained.
(1) The supervisor may not supervise more than three applicants completing their supervised professional experience at any one time.
(2) Applicants may not work under the direction of more than two supervisors at one time.
(d) The applicant shall inform individuals under his care that he is completing the supervised professional experience and is working under the supervision of a licensed speech-language pathologist.
(e) An applicant shall spend at least 80% of each week in direct client contact related to assessment, nonmedical diagnosis, evaluation, screening, habilitation, rehabilitation, consulting, recordkeeping or other duties appropriate to a bona fide program of clinical work. No more than 50% of the applicant’s time may be spent conducting screenings. Clinical residents who teach, conduct research, perform administrative tasks or engage in other activities not related to direct client contact may not apply the time devoted to these activities toward meeting the supervised professional experience requirement.
(f) During the supervised professional experience, the applicant shall routinely consult with the supervisor for evaluation of the applicant’s performance in professional employment. These consultations shall occur at least once a month and shall include review of the applicant’s performance in regard to one or more of the following:
(1) Clinical treatment or evaluation.
(2) Changes in the communication behaviors of persons served by the applicant.
(3) Clinical records, diagnostic reports, treatment records, correspondence, plans of treatment and summaries of clinical conferences.
(4) Staff conferences and interaction with allied professionals, colleagues and clients and their representatives.
(5) Contributions to professional meetings and publications, and participation in other professional growth opportunities.
(6) Other matters related to the applicant’s knowledge, skills and abilities to practice.
(g) During the supervised professional experience, the applicant shall complete at least 36 supervised activities as follows:
(1) A minimum of one supervised activity shall be completed per month.
(2) Each of a minimum of 18 activities shall meet the following criteria. The activities shall:
(i) Be directly supervised and involve the assessment, nonmedical diagnosis, evaluation, screening, habilitation and rehabilitation of clients.
(ii) Be at least 1 hour in duration.
(3) No more than 6 hours of direct supervision activities may be completed in 1 day.
(4) At least six direct supervision activities shall be completed during each third of the supervised professional experience.
(5) Applicants fulfilling the supervised professional experience at more than one site shall complete at least one direct supervision activity at each site during each of the three segments of the supervised professional experience.
(h) The supervisor shall attest that the applicant has fulfilled the criteria of the supervised professional experience.
(i) The final decision as to whether the applicant has satisfactorily met the conditions of the supervised professional experience is within the discretion of the Board.
Authority The provisions of this § 45.20 amended under sections 5(2) and (7), 7(d)(1), 8(a) and 8.1 of the Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists Licensure Act (63 P.S. § § 1705(2) and (7), 1707(d)(1), 1708(a) and 1708.1); and section 810(a)(3) and (7) of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P.S. § 279.1(a)(3) and (7)).
Source The provisions of this § 45.20 amended July 14, 2017, effective July 15, 2017, 47 Pa.B. 3814. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (375013) to (375015).
Cross References This section cited in 49 Pa. Code § 45.12 (relating to licensure application procedures); and 49 Pa. Code § 45.22 (relating to foreign-trained applicants).
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