Speech Therapy Educational Training in Arizona
As an Arizona resident hoping to pursue a career as a speech therapist, also commonly referred to as a speech pathologist, you should be aware that you have a long educational path in front of you if you wish to meet with success in the field. This will take a lot of dedication, commitment, and hard work on your part, but if you are willing to follow it through, you can end up with a lucrative and personally rewarding career and a great amount of job security. Your first step, of course, is to assess where you are right now in terms of your education.
If you have just graduated from high school or, for whatever reason, possess only a high school diploma or its equivalent, your first step is to secure either an associate's degree or a bachelor's degree in a field at least somewhat related to speech pathology. Common majors include psychology, sociology, and a variety of specialized or personally tailored programs offered by many colleges and universities. Associate's degrees take around two years to complete and are usually only granted at community or online colleges. Upon graduation, however, you must transfer your credits to an accredited bachelor's degree program and continue your study for the degree to have any real value in this field. Many people choose bachelor's degree programs to avoid the hassle of transferring credits or to get the first stage of their education done in one fell swoop. Bachelor's degrees are typically completed in four years, and programs are designed to give students general knowledge, as well as knowledge in their chosen career field.
In Arizona, you have to take your education a step further and enroll in a master's degree program in order to work as a speech therapist. Unlike associate's and bachelor's degree programs, master's degree programs are almost never general in nature; instead they focus on the exact job that you wish to have. This does not mean, however, that if you got your bachelor's degree in an unrelated field, that you have to start from scratch. In fact, many master's level programs readily and gladly accept students from diverse educational backgrounds, feeling that this allows for diversity among program participants. It can take a while to find the right gradate program, no matter what your undergraduate major, so make sure you give yourself time to look around and to complete the application process.
Once you have your master's degree, you're almost ready to work as a speech therapist in Arizona. Your final step is to pursue licensure. This will require you to pass a national examination relating to your field, complete 375 hours of supervised clinical experience, and then go on to complete at least 9 months of supervised professional experience. Once you have done all of this, your exciting career as a speech therapist can truly begin, and all of that hard work and effort you've put into reaching your goals will finally start to pay off.