The Health Sciences Major may be used as a pre-professional curriculum for students wishing to apply to four year baccalaureate degree programs in Communication Sciences & Disorders. The OU Health Sciences Center Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders offers a four year B.S. degree in Communication Sciences & Disorders.
Other Oklahoma institutions offering programs in Communication Sciences & Disorders include; University of Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, University of Tulsa, and the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
Students apply to the professional phase of the program at the OU Health Sciences Center after first completing a freshman and sophomore year (or 60 hours) of general education and prerequisite courses.
SWOSU students may choose the Health Sciences Major to complete these 60 hours at SWOSU or obtain their degree in Health Sciences at SWOSU before applying to the Communication Sciences & Disorders Program.
Profession
Speech-Language Pathologists diagnose and treat persons experiencing speech or language problems resulting form such conditions as total or partial hearing loss, brain injury, cerebral palsy, cleft palate, voice pathology, mental retardation, faulty learning, emotional problems, or foreign dialect. In addition they may counsel patients and families about disorders and about coping with the stress and potential for misunderstanding that so often accompany a communication disorder.
Employment
Most of the jobs for speech pathologists are in elementary and secondary schools and colleges and universities in addition to speech, language, and hearing centers, hospitals, nursing homes, offices of physicians, and outpatient facilities.
Curriculum/Accreditation
A master’s degree in speech-language pathology or audiology is the standard credential in this field and is the minimal requirement for certification by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, for state licensure, and for certification by the State Department of Education.