Students and research: another perspective

Thank you to Chiara Vivaldi (@VivaldiC) for producing the latest ResNetSLT blog post.

Speech and language therapists are an international community, so having written previously about my own experiences of getting involved in research as a student, let me present you with a different perspective

Paula is a final year speech and language therapy student at the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, in Spain. I interviewed Paula and asked her to share her views with ResNetSLT.

Why did you get involved in research as a student?

It started in class, hearing contradictory information, and wanting to seek out evidence to establish why these contradictions existed, and our lecturers' emphasise the use and need of research. At the end of the day we're doing therapy with people and therefore have a duty to be as informed as possible.

How did you first get involved?

Having a supportive lecturer was key, they saw my interest and offered me opportunities to get involved in existing research through helping with assessments and data analysis. I'm now running a small research project, having been offered the opportunity based on my previous experience.

What are you finding most difficult in running your own research project?

Just getting started, I wasn't sure where to look for information. Establishing the methodology was also difficult, as my course hasn't included any formal teaching on this, although this has now changed.

Finally, I'd say issues around consent such as working out what information I needed to collect and how. The research team I'm attached to for this project have been great in supporting me.

What are you enjoying the most?

Carrying out the intervention and the enthusiasm around the project.

What have you gained from being involved in research?

How to think critically, especially around reading research critically. The opportunity to participate in the research team’s meetings and discuss my ideas with them has been invaluable.

Many of the themes such as the importance of support from colleagues hold true regardless of whether you are a student or a qualified SLT carrying out research.

It's also interesting to see two more student-specific themes: the importance of including methodologies in the SLT curriculum and being provided with the opportunities and support to put that learning into practice.

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