{"id":109747,"date":"2020-05-22T16:42:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T20:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=109747"},"modified":"2023-11-03T12:14:10","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T16:14:10","slug":"ucf-develops-course-to-enhance-the-care-of-patients-recovering-from-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-develops-course-to-enhance-the-care-of-patients-recovering-from-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Develops Course to Enhance the Care of Patients Recovering From COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
UCF has designed a new course in its graduate clinical speech pathology program<\/a> with high relevance to COVID-19. The special topics course is titled \u201c<\/a>Post COVID-19 Clinical Practice in Medical Speech-Language Pathology<\/a>\u201d and is geared toward preparing clinical professionals to meet the complex needs of patients hospitalized from COVID-19 and other related conditions.<\/p>\n Patients who are hospitalized due to COVID-19 are often put on ventilators to assist their breathing. Prolonged ventilator use puts a strain on the vocal cords and reduces respiratory muscle strength, which can impact breathing, speech and swallowing. Speech language pathologists are specialists in upper airway, aerodigestive and laryngeal function disorders and are a key part of patient recovery teams.<\/p>\n \u201cThis course provides up-to-the-minute information that fills a need in the education of both practicing clinicians, and students about to enter the field.\u201d – Bari Hoffman Ruddy, associate dean of clinical affairs for the College of Health Professions and Sciences<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cThis course provides up-to-the-minute information that fills a need in the education of both practicing clinicians, and students about to enter the field,\u201d says Bari Hoffman Ruddy, associate dean of clinical affairs for the College of Health Professions and Sciences<\/a>, who co-designed the course with colleague Vicki Lewis, an instructor in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders<\/a>. \u201cThis specialized curriculum focuses on managing the potential medical issues patients may experience across the continuum of care. This course includes content that is not readily available and is ever-evolving as new data become available. We hope this course will yield workforce ready clinicians who are prepared to meet the challenges in today\u2019s complex healthcare environment.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Hoffman Ruddy and Lewis specialize in complex medical conditions with a focus on upper airway and disorders of the larynx (voice box) making them uniquely qualified to lead the course.\u00a0Lewis has over 25 years\u2019 experience in the acute care setting working closely with cardiothoracic surgery, otolaryngology, pulmonology and other medical specialists.<\/p>\n