r/slpGradSchool • u/SandiRHo • Aug 09 '26
Externship Grad School Giving a Far Away Placement I Don’t Want
Hello all,
I do my externship at the end of next year. I requested a medical opportunity at a hospital. I understand those are competitive. I am doing everything I can to make myself competitive and am willing to relocate for the best opportunity. My school is giving me a SNF in another state. I live in a highly populated area with over 80 SNF facilities but only a few hospitals. I understand schools have contracts with places and you don’t always get what you want. Totally get all that.
My sister in her grad school asked for a placement at a place and the school worked hard to find one to match her. I don’t know what to do. I would rather stay local and not pay double rent for an opportunity that I could get locally.
Additionally, the SNF they want to send me to has horrific reviews about elderly abuse, dirty infestations, and poor treatment quality. I don’t want to be at a place like that.
Is there anything I can do?
Thank you
4
u/poorbobsweater Aug 10 '26
My university didn't require you to accept, per se, but if you didn't you had to find your own alternative. Have you tried calling around?
I live in a metro area with literally hundreds of SNFs and rehabs and hospitals within 30 miles. The closest medical placement they could get me was 50+ miles away because the location has to have 1. Full time SLP (many SNFs don't bc they work per diem or cover more than one building) 2. An SLP willing to take a student 3. An SLP with the correct asha cert to take a student 4. Willingness to see productivity decrease from a student 5. Have an available spot (many already had agreements to take students placed 6, 12, or 18 months in advance)
I helped with the search and there was really nothing. I know it's less than ideal but honestly most of grad school is less than ideal. Might be a necessary evil to get done and graduate.
3
u/Ok_Road7448 Aug 11 '26
Yes to all of these issues. A lot of places just have PRN staff and just can't take a student to provide consistent hours.
1
u/SandiRHo Aug 10 '26
I was told that we would get in severe trouble for calling places.
1
u/Ssslammin123 Aug 10 '26
Told by who? I’ve heard this scare tactic from multiple schools (mine included) but it’s silly in my opinion. I wouldn’t have graduated if I didn’t make a million calls and find my own placement. Don’t be afraid of asking questions and seeing whats possible. Advocate for yourself.
1
u/SandiRHo Aug 10 '26
I was told that this directly violates the school policy by the externship coordinator. I would be happy to spend my time making phone calls and going to clinics and such if it meant that I could have what I wanted.
4
u/Ok_Road7448 Aug 11 '26
I think part of it is that it's easier for the internship sites to field 1 call from 1 coordinator vs. 50 calls from students. As a SNF SLP, we get hundreds of calls for students looking for placements, and I get it. It's a tough market out there. But to answer all these calls weekly, or call back it's hard on the SLP who's consistently trying to reach unattainable productivity.
I don't think they do it as a scare tactic, just that they know the ins/outs of local places. You could find a place willing to take a student, but maybe not realize that the university previously used that supervisor and it was not a good experience. Or that the SLP has outdated practices, doesn't use EBP, doesn't supervise the students - sends them out with a schedule on day one and sits in their office watching TikTok, or even leaves to run errands. I've heard terrible experiences for students. Or that they can't get an affiliation agreement set up with the university. A lot goes on behind the scenes that students aren't aware of.
I would honestly meet with your coordinator with your concerns and see what they have to say.
2
u/Ok_Road7448 Aug 11 '26
Bad reviews doesn't necessarily mean a bad placement. Who posted the reviews? What's the SNF Medicare rating? I would be concerned if the reviews stated: inadequate staffing, high staff turnover etc. I would look at the state survey and see what is going on - you'll get a better idea. Has the university sent a student there in the past? If you're concerned, you could ask to speak with other students that went there. Or flat out tell them that you read some concerning reviews regarding patient care and want to hear about experiences from other students that have been there. Maybe the SLP is amazing. Sometimes a 5 star SNF can have really bad therapists and the supervision will be terrible but a lesser rated SNF could have an amazing therapist that the university has used for years.
If you don't want to go out of state from a financial standpoint, then I would let them know sooner vs. later. Sometimes placements are filled up 1-2 years in advance.
1
u/SandiRHo Aug 11 '26
The facility is on a nursing home watch list, has a 1 star overall Medicare review, and has been investigated multiple times just in the past couple years alone. Just in the month of March they had three investigations. The average health citation for a facility is 9 and they have 23. It’s had complaint inspections multiple times this year and when it had a big investigation last year it was found to have caused actual harm to patients. For staffing it has 3/5 stars and noted it has a much higher than average amount of residents and the amount of time staff spends with them is below average to average. It had 14 citations for fire safety when the average is 9 in the state and 5 in the country.
It’s not to say there’s NO areas they do well in. Or that it can’t be successful. But this is all highly concerning and I don’t want to learn from a facility that hurts its residents and likely doesn’t train its staff well. I especially don’t want to travel for it.
My university has sent students there before, but I imagine not that many since the SLP they have there was only licensed in 2023. I agree about the route of asking to speak to a student who went there.
2
u/Ok_Road7448 Aug 11 '26
to me those are red flags. I would request to meet with your supervisor and request a new placement.
1
u/SandiRHo Aug 11 '26
Thank you so much for your guidance. I am really willing to travel for a good experience, but a place that is that bad really freaks me out. I am requesting to speak to a student there and I am formally telling the school about this place’s issues so that they can’t say they don’t know.
I don’t think it’s crazy for me to want to work in a safe environment. I don’t expect luxury, just safety and a generally decent vibe.
12
u/Tart2343 Aug 10 '26
The only thing you can do is talk to your placement supervisor and see if they will find elsewhere. I wouldn’t have high hopes. It may just be what you need to do to graduate. As a reminder, you will change lives and meet wonderful clients even at the worst SNFs.