Logopedics B.Sc., Dual Course of Study

 

From aphasia to cerebral palsy logopedics is devoted to the diagnosis and therapy of speech, writing, language, voice, swallowing, and hearing impediments and all related phenomena.

It calls upon research results from many neighboring disciplines and uses these as the foundation for the development of optimal therapy strategies. Its objective is to improve the ability to communicate, ingestion, and the swallowing process. In the longterm its solutions offer a higher quality of life and more participation in everyday life and work.

Sociodemographic developments and changed structures in health and social services are requiring speech therapists to acquire academic qualification. As a result RWTH and the School of Logopedics at the University Hospital are collaborating to offer a dual course of study, which closely combines training with studies. Due to the integrated concepts from training, it is possible to consider scientific evidence in diagnostics and therapy – evidence-based work – and simultaneously ensure top practical training.

After six semesters, that is three years, students take the state exam for certification in speech therapy. After a fourth academic year they earn a Bachelor's degree. The studies take the reality into account that logopedics is much more than a therapeutic career. As a discipline shaped by research, it experiments, designs studies and interprets results, and develops application and treatment recommendations. It is a crucial part of clinical neuropsychology and is interdisciplinarily shaped at the cross-section of medicine, linguistics, and psychology.

The inclusion of these three academic disciplines results in a teaching concept, in which classical and core speech therapy skills can be supplemented with transdisciplinary perspectives.

• Medical subjects offer a look into anatomy, physiology, pathology, orthodontics, otolaryngology, phoniatrics, audiology and pediatric audology, electro and hearing aid acoustics, pediatrics and neuropediatrics, pediatric and adolescent psychiatry, psychiatry and neurology.
• Psychological and pedagogical subjects expand the breadth of subjects to include psychology, clinical psychology, pedagogy, sociology, and special education.
• Linguistics and speech sciences teach skills in phonetics, linguistics, psycholinguistics, and speech training.

 

Application

Important: The deadline to apply for the dual Bachelor course of study in Logopedics is not the general RWTH application deadline. Instead it is the application deadline for the School of Logopedics (de) for the winter semester. Applicants for the course of study must first apply for vocational training at the school, and will thus become students in the dual course of study in Logopedics.

 

Degree Content

The dual course of study optimally combines research-oriented thinking and therapeutic application. Practical training primarily occurs at the school. In non-teaching weeks, students spend time at external internship institutions. In the seventh semester a evidence-based internship offers the possibility to conduct a single-case study, which is then illustrated in the Bachelor's thesis. The acquisition of technical, methodological, personal, social communication skills is supplemented with voice training, occupational training, conversation techniques, self-experience, music therapy, and interprofessional learning and working.

Curriculum

Semester	Study Content
1.	Introduction to Therapeutic Work and Professionalism I, Medical Fundamentals I, Fluency Disorders, Medical Fundamentals II, Statistical Fundamentals
2.	Speech Disorders in Children, Medical Fundamentals II, Technical English
3.	Introduction to Therapeutic Work and Professionalism II, Medical Fundamentals III, Swallowing Disorders, Technical English
4.	Voice Disorders, Hearing Disorders, Medical Fundamentals IV
5.	Aphasia, Evidence-Based Work I
6.	Speech Disorders, Evidence-Based Work II
	Completion of training with the State Exam
7.	Linguistics and Communication Sciences, Psychology, Specialization in Speech Disorders, Specialization in Speech, Voice, Hearing, and Swallowing Disorders, Neurolinguistics and Neurophonetics, Neuropsychology, Evidence-Based Internship
8.	Linguistics and Communication Sciences, Neurolinguistics and Neurophonetics, Specialization in Speech Disorders, Specialization in Speech, Voice, Hearing, and Swallowing Disorders, Neuropsychology, Bachelor's thesis

Programs Abroad

International experience is becoming increasingly important for students. Thanks to international programs, prospective speech therapists benefit from experiences with other countries' healthcare systems, from different therapeutic approaches, and of course from the influence of upbringing and culture. RWTH offers its logopedics students numerous possibilities to gather academic experience at international partner universities. In Europe alone it mains partnerhips with 16 universities, including through ERASMUS+, the EU mobility program. It also offers many opportunities to complete internships at international institutions – not least within the framework of development assistance.

RWTH students profit not only from the Faculty's exchange programs but also from the University's strategic partnerships with international universities. They can, for example, complete short stays at one of the IDEA League universities while completing a term paper. The UROP Abroad program, the only one of its kind in Germay, offers the possibility to participate in research projects at international universities during Bachelor studies. These stays abroad are partially funded by RWTH-specific funding.

All of RWTH's collaborative programs are listed on the webpages about studying abroad.

 

Prerequisites

Application to the School of Logopedics

General university entrance qualification and a vocational training agreement sent to the Lehranstalt für Logopädie at University Hospital Aachen. The personal prequisites for each applicant are carefully reviewed. Applicants must apply on time, starting November of the previous year to January/February of the year studies begin, to the School of Logopedics. More Details: Course of study website (de)

Self Assessment

RWTH Subject Self Assessment Humanities, Linguistics, and Communication Studies - Confirmation of the completed self assessment must be submitted at the time of enrollment, not application.

 

Career Prospects

Speech therapists supports patients of all ages and their relatives or care givers. Due to increasing life expectancy, the need for speech therapy treatments for patients, for example after strokes or premature births, is growing. Early speech intervention among children and parent advising for the prevention of speech development disorders are also becoming more important. These are just a few examples that explain the current importance of logopedics and the growing job market in the logopedic field.

Speech therapists can be self-employed or employed in medical practices, various medical institutions, and hospitals. They are particularly active in healthcare, for example health promotion, prevention, therapy, rehabilitation, palliation, and inclusion, but also in education, culture, and the industry.

Logopedic schools also have a need for academically and practically trained instructors. Graduates with a Master's degree may find work here. Aside from teaching work at universities and universities of applied science, speech therapists can find additional employment opportunities in the clinical field. Teaching and research speech therapists are optimally trained for responsibilities in management, supervision, and coordination.

 

Master's Degree Prospects

Speech therapists interested in science and didactics can continue their academic training in the Master's course of study Teaching and Research Logopedics. The focus of the Master's program is therapy research and teaching and learning research.

Students learn to critically reflect on the current state of research, to conduct their own therapeutic experiments, and to develop new didactic strategies. In doing so they acquire qualifications for science-based teaching, for example in occupational training at universities of applied science, and for their own research in diagnostics and therapy.

 

Examination Regulations

Regulations that apply for all Bachelor and Master courses of study as well as detailed information about the necessary documentation of required language skills can be found in RWTH’s Comprehensive Examination Regulation. Examination regulations are only published in German as they are legally binding.

Subject Specific Exam Regulations regulate academic goals, the course of study layout, and exam procedures. The appendix to the regulations contains the description of the modules, from which the course of study is composed.

 

Faculty

The Bachelor course of study in Logopedics is offered by the Faculty of Medicine in collaboration with the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and the School of Logopedics. This interdisciplinary network creates a fundamental academic education combined with the acquisition of clinical and practical skills. The objective of the collaboration is to train occupationally and academically trained speech therapists with a scientific perspective.