The Oregon Workaround

For the first 20 episodes of Inside SLP, we explored the history of speech-language pathology and the systems that shape our profession today. We looked at how licensure, certification, clinical training, and professional identity evolved over time, and how decisions made decades ago continue to influence clinicians, students, employers, and patients.As we begin this next chapter of the podcast, we're turning our attention to a recent controversy in Oregon that sparked questions far beyond a single state licensing board.At first glance, it looked like a debate about the CFY.But as I dug deeper, it became clear that the conversation was really about something much larger: Where clinical training happens, who is responsible for it, and what assumptions we've inherited about how new clinicians become competent practitioners.This isn't a call to action, and it isn't an attempt to tell you what to think.It's an invitation to better understand the systems we're all participating in, and to consider what role each of us plays in what comes next.We explore:The CFY, the CCC, and licensure: Why so many clinicians struggle to untangle where one system ends and another begins.The hidden training model: How the profession came to rely on employers and workplace mentorship to help complete the transition from student to clinician.The CFY lottery: Why two clinicians can have dramatically different fellowship experiences while meeting the same requirements.Beyond Oregon: How a proposed workaround to a Medicare billing problem uncovered deeper questions about training, competency, and professional responsibility.Guests:Kerry Mandulak, PhD, CCC-SLP, immediate Past President of the Oregon Speech-Language & Hearing Association (OSHA) and Professor and Chair of the Graduate Admissions Committee at Pacific University in the school of Communication Sciences and DisordersJordan Tinsley, PhD, CCC-SLP, current President of OSHA and Clinical Assistant Professor at Pacific University in the school of Communication Sciences and DisordersTeigan Beck, MS, CCC-SLP, VP of Legislative Affairs for OSHAConnect:Contact Megan: therapyinsights.com/insideslpPACT Survey: pactsurvey.com