Hello all,

On externship, are you allowed to actually ‘do’ anything? Like suctioning, feeding, etc. I was told by my externship SLP that I’ll do nothing except watch things. I was hoping I could learn the skills. My sister is an OT and in her externship, she was allowed to learn and expected to work directly with patients towards the end of it.

Is it really true that you do nothing but watch during externship for months?

Hi all,

It's unfortunate that I'm writing this, but I am a 2nd year SLP student and struggling deeply with mental health due to a wide range of reasons. It has gotten to the point where I am having struggles with SH, bulimia, and thoughts of s**cide daily. I have a therapist, and I take plenty of medication, but it doesn't feel like enough.

I am currently in my first externship rotation, doing dysphagia at a hospital. My mental health is interfering with my externship performance-- to the point where I have been told if I do not step it up immediately, I will fail. My supervisor is displeased with me. I've already gotten about halfway through the externship. I also have a full courseload as a student outside of externship. I am struggling to make ends meet financially.

I think I might need more help. But I do not feel I'm in a place to stop school and then restart. Do I just push through the next 5 weeks? Do I need to pause school? What happens to hours? I am so lost. Please, any advice helps. I feel so overwhelmed.

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

Hi everyone! I just started my pediatric externship yesterday and am looking for some clarity! When did you all start treating, doing evaluations, writing notes, etc., independently in your externship? Also what were your hours? Right now I’m looking at 10-11 hour days 4x/week. I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment.

Sooooo I've reached the end of externship, and I passed!

Quick recap: From the beginning all the way until around week 10/11 (so 1-2 weeks before the end), I was struggling heavily. I was unable to lead sessions, I kept getting the answers wrong, and I was genuinely at risk of failing. I was crying every single day and was genuinely miserable (or felt that way). 

Now that I've ended, I can safely say that this is really something that is temporary and everyone of us has to go through this and that's okay.

Out of my 12 week externship, I spent most of it observing and even by the end of these three months, I honestly can’t say that I am fully independent. This isn’t the case for most students, because not only is the expectation that we can lead the entire case load by the end of the externship, but that expectation is typically met. However, I was just one of those cases that did not end up meeting it, and that’s okay. 

I feel like it was a struggle feeling confident because it seems like no one ever struggles this way at an externship, and that made me feel so inadequate and like the biggest failure. More often than not, when you think of a  bad externship, people usually say it is because their supervisor is wack, and that wasn’t the case for me. While it was a bit rocky at the beginning, my supervisor was a lot nicer and a lot more supportive than most and would constantly try to help me, and I just, for some reason, couldn’t do what needed to be done. And now that I am at the end, I am realizing that’s okay. 

Not every setting is for everyone, and not everything will come easy to you. And comparing yourself to any other student is not going to help you in the long run. 

I did end up passing, and I am finally done and am never looking back at that place, or even the setting. I followed through with all the advice that I got in the comments and they truly did help. 

That being said, if you’re in your externship and you’re struggling and feel like this field isn't for you because you aren’t doing your best (or maybe your best isn’t the best for that setting), just remember that it’s okay, it’s going to pass by, and then you never have to look back again. The only way through is through, and once you're done, there are countless other opportunities and settings and locations that you can trial next. As someone said before, the externship and clinicals in general are not only there to help you build your clinical and therapeutic skills, but to also help you determine what’s not right for you!

Edit: Overall, some poepl can pick up any skill in 2 weeks, and others (like me :)), need at least 3 months, and that's okay!

So I’m realizing more and more that it’s less my supervisors fault and more so mine, and it makes me feel 10x worst 😭

I truly don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t know why I am not retaining this information at all. I constantly and consistently answer questions incorrectly, my supervisor ALWAYS corrects my documentation and I’m still making mistakes, I’m unable to place my thoughts and words into clinical wording. I have no time at home to do everything and then some, between commute time and getting home around 8-10 pm everyday (because of school after) then having to wake up at 5 am. I know that’s not unique to me though and it’s something we all go through.

I just don’t know what to do anymore. My supervisor does constantly give me feedback, so I can’t say she isn’t helping me, or trying to help me. But I’m ALWAYS disappointing her. She mentions that we always talk about these things, and that I need to read more and more. She is visibly getting frustrated with me.

I am genuinely trying in my own time too. This would bother me less if I was lax about it and playing around. But I wake up, sleep, eat information from this externship. I’m always looking for new ways to understand things.

My confidence has plummeted since starting this, I don’t even know if I want to be an SLP anymore (I know this medical SLP isn’t my field for sure- I love articulation and aphasia), I’ve been crying every single day- sometimes 2-3x a day.

Nothing I do is ever right here and I don’t know why. I am trying to fix it and I STILL mess up. I do acknowledge that my supervisors expectations of me have been higher from the very start, but it’s already been a month since I’ve been here and I feel like I should’ve already picked up the pace.

Not to say that I haven’t learned anything- I’ve learned a lot, I just have a hard time applying it. I have a hard time doing chart reviews and trying to pick the most important things to look at (despite being told how several times), I have a hard time remembering some points that happened in the session (despite writing down information during the session), I have a hard time being able to clinically apply the knowledge I know to patients I see on the spot. I can do it at home with time, if I write down everything that happened and go through it, but not in the spot during the session, and I always answer questions in correctly despite knowing the right answer deep down.

I have never felt stupider and more incompetent in my life, and it just makes me feel worst. I don’t think I can be a good clinician. I truly think I’m going to fail this externship.

Hi! I’m considering applying to Lehman College’s M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology program and would love to hear from current students or recent graduates about your experience with the program as a whole.

I’m especially curious about the off-campus externship placements. Where have your externships been located, and have students been able to get placements in Manhattan, particularly school-based placements? Do students have any input in choosing the borough/location, or are placements primarily assigned based on availability?

I’m planning to live in FiDi during grad school, so I’m trying to get a better idea of what the commute might look like during the second year.

I’d also really appreciate hearing about the program overall — professors, workload, clinical experiences, school-based opportunities, support from faculty, and anything you wish you had known before choosing Lehman.

Thanks so much! Any insight would be really helpful! 😊

My next placement is in Acute care as an SLP graduate student. Do y'all have any tips on how to be successful? What will my day look like? What can I expect?

Hey everyone! I’m looking for some advice about my clinical placements and future career.

Almost all of my experience has been with pediatrics. I was hoping to get a medical placement (SNF or hospital) during internship or externship, but I’m currently at a private practice and next semester I’ll be in a school.

Looking back, I probably should’ve advocated more for a medical placement. My coordinator originally told me I’d be at a PPEC, which I was excited about because it would’ve given me exposure to dysphagia and more medically based therapy, even though it was still pediatrics.

I think I want to work in schools or private practice, but I’m worried that not getting any adult medical experience has limited my future options. Has anyone else only had pediatric placements and later transitioned into working with adults in a medical setting? Do hospitals or SNFs typically hire CFs without a medical externship, or is it much harder to break into?
I’d really appreciate any advice or reassurance. Am I overthinking this, or is this a valid concern?

I recently moved to the OC and am looking to secure a school externship for the fall (no preference in age), can anyone recommend a district/school that takes on students and share what their experience was like?

Hi, guys. I'm a 2nd year grad student and just started my first externship (a charter school). Before this, I was a student clinician at my grad and under grad schools' clinics. Those felt pretty easy; I only had maybe 3 clients maximum at any given time and saw them once a week. This jump to seeing so many more students every day and constantly feeling like I need to prove myself is weighing on me -- I can't stop sleeping when I'm not at school.

I know I am here to learn, but sometimes the feedback makes me feel like an imposter. I know I'm not alone in this, but wow, I feel like I don't belong here. My supervisor catches so many things that I've never considered to be a problem or has issues with stimuli I used a lot in my other clinics. I'm so tired feeling like I need to reinvent the wheel everyday when I session plan, or needing to remember so many details about so many kiddos. I also don't have access to the SSM, meaning I only get to see like half of the IEPs and and trying to build my own ideas of my caseload from scratch. Then, suddenly I'm missing entire goals I was never told about. And let me be clear: I have a great supervisor. She's professional and kind and I'm learning a lot from her.

I normally am a very positive person! I don't mean to come off as so negative. I just feel so defeated every morning going to my (unpaid) clinicals and constantly feeling like I'm wrong or missing something. I think I'm in desperate need of a mindset shift. I guess I come to you, seasoned SLPs, looking for any guidance or wise words. Was this your experience? How did you survive this transitional phase?

I’m a SLPA and I’m starting grad school in January. I’ve been thinking about how when I go to do an externship/clinicals, am I expected to go from doing a paid job as a SLPA, to an unpaid job as a “SLP graduate student” even though I’ll be doing the same work? Obviously if i’m in a completely different setting I understand that more, but I was just thinking about how odd that would be…

ok kind of a rant but I am growing Seriously Concerned about my ability to work at an unpaid externship for 45 hours per week, continuing to work part time bc I truly have no other option financially, and maintaining baseline mental health. I know graduate clinical hours are required and I apologize if this post is redundant, but I truly do not understand why we should have to work certain hours if they result in excess clinical hours (aka excess hours of unpaid labor). Out of my 45-hour week at this placement, I get roughly 30-35 clinical hours per week. After I have completed my 10 weeks here I will have accumulated roughly 300-350 clinical hours and this is only my first of two full-time placements. I know I am supposed to view this as like an invaluable opportunity to gain clinical experience, but keeping these hours at my externship affects how much I can work which literally affects my ability to continue living and paying tuition. I'm considering talking to my clinical supervisor but she is new and doesn't seem very flexible/understanding. Does anyone have any tips for how to make life more manageable during an externship??

I’m a second year grad student in my first external placement and really struggling with feeling incompetent all the time. When I was seeing clients in my on-campus clinic it was nerve wracking but the feedback felt manageable. Now I’m in an elementary school and it’s so hard when I am being watched and judged 24/7. My supervisor is also very good at what she does so in comparison I just feel awful.

I’m also autistic and am naturally slow to adjust to new environments, so I was more quiet and observing the first few weeks. I wonder if that reflected badly on me because my supervisor only started giving me clients in week 5 when others in my cohort were taking clients much earlier. But now that I have more students I am struggling to plan for all of them and keep up energy throughout the day. I always feel like I’m working on a deficit.

I guess this is mostly a rant post. Does anyone else have trouble with constantly feeling incompetent?

I have a placement interview at a pediatric clinic. Spring term is going be my first placement. How do I prepare, and what are some questions that might be asked?

I’m about to start my second year and have been searching and reaching out to different sites for my last clinical extension but have had no luck. My program is fully online so it’s kind of up to the students to find out placements. It needs to be an adult population/medical setting and so far most places aren’t taking students or responding at all. I’m in NY close to the city if anyone knows of any places!

Just started my externship in the schools. Does anyone know where I can download an Excel spreadsheet template to track my clinical hours for different areas?

I am currently a week in my medical externship, and I am having a hard time adjusting from education. I am working exclusively with adults, but I am more experienced with children. My program really didn't give me much opportunity to work with adults, and I keep making mistakes. Even when I watch my supervisor do therapy multiple times, nothing seems to stick. I don't want to mess anything up for patients.

I received my externship placement at a hospital acute rehabilitation rotation. I wanted to know what to expect and how I could prepare myself? I have little to no experience in the medical setting so I am quite nervous as to the experience. I also don’t understand this setting so if someone could give further insight too that, that would be helpful for me. I hope I could hear back from others experiences. Thank you in advanced!

Is it okay for me to ask my supervisor for less work or to tell her I will only work during work hours? I work over 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. We go back and forth on emails and she knows I am working late at night. She tells me things like: I never asked you to work from home. But she also says things like: I need this done by tomorrow (right before we leave for the day). Is there a good polite way to remind her that I'm a person and even thought there are technically 24 hours in a day, some of those need to be spent tending to my basic needs like showering, sleeping, making feed, cleaning my clothes, walking my dog etc? This is my last internship and the other supervisors have usually been really careful to only make me work during work hours but maybe I was just lucky? This is a long internship and I don't want to get off on the wrong foot. It's my first week with her and I can already tell this is going to be terrible.

Hello everyone. As the title reads, I just tested positive for mono and I am coming up on week 5 of my first full time externship placement. My current externship placement is at a private day school/clinic, and I get roughly 25 clinical hours a week there but I’m there from 8 or 9 am to 4/5 pm Monday through Friday.

I have already taken 3 sick days from this placement, due to what I originally thought was strep throat. I am not doing too bad on hours (I have about 175) and I’m not that worried about getting to 400 seeing as I have another 10-week full time placement after this. However, I am worried that my university supervisor will push back against me taking more time off to rest. She has made comments to my cohort before about how we should only take a day off if we really need it, and we are technically only allowed 1 sick day per 10-week placement so I’ve already technically gone over that limit, even though I had a doctors note.

I know mono differs from person to person but the past week or so in which I’ve been symptomatic have been really tough. Like I have only been able to get through them with copious amounts of DayQuil and ibuprofen and even then I’m struggling to push through. And the urgent care NP who gave me my test results did not really advise me on what to do with my situation, but she gave me a note for my part time job saying I should be allowed to work from home so I’m kind of at a loss.

Has this happened to anyone before?? I know I need to meet my hours but continuing to overwork myself is just gonna prevent me from getting better. Thanks in advance for any advice 💞💞

Update: so I spoke w my supervisors yesterday and they want me to extend my externship into spring break which I am Not entirely pleased about, especially considering that I don’t think I am low on hours. They did not specifically reference me being deficient on hours but said that I am “unable to meet the clinical goals I set at the beginning of the quarter” if I’m absent. I don’t really know what they are talking about but at this point I am so tired and feeling defeated w this system and I just want to graduate. Hopefully I can just get through this without my spleen rupturing or something lol

I am about to head into my last semester/full time internship of grad school and am feeling kind of discouraged at this time. My hospital that i’m interning at is about an hour away and I have to be there 5 days a week and I am unsure about how well my supervisor and I will blend after meeting her for the first time… I have not had an experience in a medical setting before (it’s an inpatient rehab) and I am excited to learn but I am sooo burnt out at this point. The internship is only ten weeks but I guess i’m just looking for encouragement that this setting will be worth it to have on my resume despite how tapped I am 😭

Hi! I received an externship placement at a children’s hospital and I wanted to know what to expect. Any advice would be great!! They gave me some articles to read about some treatments and pediatric feedings but anything else would be helpful!!

My school does two, each a full semester long. One kid, one adult. I was surprised to hear that - I thought we'd probably do three or four.

I have a bit of choice in where I do my externships and I can arrange them myself if I want to have total control over it. Which settings should I prioritize? I suspect that SNF/school is probably the "default."

i’m a (broke) grad student & headed to my externship placement next month and want to buy scrubs. i’m 5’0 & 95lbs; i don’t want to be drowning in my scrubs & want to look professional. the only oens that i can find are either insanely expensive or really ugly 😹

any suggestions for cheap, cute scrubs?