Speech and Language Therapy Degree

According to the mission of ESSALCOITÃO, the general objectives for the study cycle are the following:

• Teach the degree course in Speech and Language Therapy in order to train professionals who respond effectively to the health needs of the population throughout their life cycles;
• Comply with local, regional, national and European policies and requirements, as well as professional standards and regulations;
• Organize scientific and pedagogical activities in the area of ​​Speech Therapy that allow the updating of knowledge, responding to the needs of students and professionals;
• Develop scientific research to which students and teaching staff contribute;
• Develop community intervention projects that contribute to improving the health conditions of the target population;
• Develop research/action activities based on projects in the community.
• Establish partnerships with prestigious national and international institutions;
• Participate in cooperation projects with other countries, in order to share knowledge and experience acquired at the scientific and pedagogical level;

At the end of the degree study cycle, the Speech and Language Therapist must have acquired, among others, skills to:

• Assess, diagnose and intervene in communication disorders with regard to language (in its verbal and non-verbal dimensions), speech, voice, swallowing and oral motor functioning;
• Inform about the results of the assessment in an understandable way, respecting the values ​​and beliefs of the clients with whom it intervenes, as well as the contexts or environments in which they move, recognizing the effect of disturbances on their psychosocial and clinical well-being;
• Discuss the intervention plan and decide with the client, according to the data collected and clinical reasoning, which care is appropriate in speech therapy;
• Build, select and apply clinical practice methodologies and models, as well as implement therapeutic techniques according to the situational context of the client and their partners, understanding the principles that underlie them;
• Work according to the principles of client-centered practice;
• Produce written information about the decision-making process in the form of reports or documents that meet certain specificities;
• Understand the concepts of effectiveness and efficiency in relation to speech therapy intervention, knowing how to evaluate the effectiveness of therapy and prepare the client for therapeutic discharge;
• Contribute to the prevention of disorders of communication, language, speech, voice, swallowing or oromotor functioning, at its different levels;
• Respect the code of ethics of the national professional organization, understanding the roles and responsibilities of the profession and the limits of a speech therapist;
• Keep your learning active, continuous and updated throughout your life, being responsible for developing your knowledge and skills;
• Promote your personal growth through introspection and the development of interpersonal relationship and communication skills, developing empathetic relationships with clients and colleagues with a view to building a therapeutic alliance;
• Use all available means and appropriate materials in communicating information and in written, oral and visual instructions, prioritizing multimodality;
• Actively interpret, analyze, synthesize and criticize scientific results, critically evaluate and apply a set of information and evidence to ensure up-to-date and relevant practice for the client;
• Understand and apply principles of management and service provision in speech therapy services, including the cost-effectiveness ratio, in the administration of resources and equipment and in the establishment of protocols;