So you got a job lined up already. GO YOU!
You will feel intimidated and you may doubt yourself a little (like I did), but the fact that you made it this far in pursuit of your career, means that you have what it takes to continue to be a successful. Here are some tips to help you excel and to help your CFY year go smoothly.
Get a feel for what your supervisor is like. Are they attentive to your questions? Are they knowledgeable and willing to mentor you? Sometimes the one selected for you is not a great fit. If you notice this to be the case, respectfully request someone who will guide you the way you deserve to be guided. Your CFY year is going to be challenging and you need someone who will answer your questions promptly and show you how to be a proficient clinician. You deserve nothing less. Do not be afraid to advocate for yourself.
Familiarize yourself with ASHA’s requirements for your CFY year. Here is the link which details what is expected of you and your supervisor:
https://www.asha.org/certification/clinical-fellowship/
You will need a minimum of 1,260 hours and 36 weeks of clinical experience working under the mentorship of a CCC-SLP who meets ASHA’s requirements. ASHA currently does not require you to turn in any proof of clinical hours worked. Instead, your supervisor has to login and verify that all of the hours were completed. Still, some companies that you work for may ask that you document your clinical hours for your supervisor to sign off on.
Save all your lesson plans or therapy activities. Find blogs that offer free resources. If you’re working with school aged children, check out the toy aisle of whatever store you shop at every so often to see if they have any good play based therapy materials for sale. Take the time to build up your resource library now so that your session planning will be easier in the future. I also find that working in the realm of themes makes planning a little easier; if its Spring, find a book about gardening and plan a lesson off of that. I have linked some good websites to check out with free materials below:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/ (I’m sure you already know this one!)
https://www.twinkl.com/ (free lesson plans on anything you could imagine)
https://mommyspeechtherapy.com/
Do not expect perfection from yourself. You are learning how to navigate a new space and apply everything you learned in grad school to real life situations, which can be harder than it sounds. You will likely make a few mistakes, but learn to grow from them. Continue to do research. ASHA has many free resources on a variety of topics/populations and your CFY supervisor will undoubtedly have some relevant resources too. Ask all the questions because now is the time to learn as much as you can about your caseload and the best way to manage it.
You can start the application process for your certification of clinical competence (or CCC’s) as soon as you graduate. If you were not a member of NSSLHA prior to graduating, the cost of certification and ASHA membership will be $511 (at the time this post was written in 2023). If you are a NSSLHA member your costs are $286. Either way, your CFY employer should be able to reimburse you for your membership dues and likely any continuing education credits that you wish to obtain. If they do not offer this to you, I recommend negotiating it into your employment package once you become a SLP- CCC and discuss increasing pay.
Your CFY year will pass before you know it and you’ll learn so much! You are going to make a huge difference in so many lives. Wishing you all the best in your journey. Let me know if these tips helped or if you have any of your own in the comments.
